


Tabris and Aeducan: Leaders Extraordinaire

by randomostrichchocolates, Styx_in_the_mud



Series: Chance Encounters [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Duncan is an exasperated dad, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Multiple Wardens, Romance, Tabris and Aeducan start things out as a joke, betreyal, but somehow the jokes develop into good leadership techniques, he's angry that Loghain won't take on some parenting responsibilites at least with Cailan, how did we start writing a prequel before finishing the sequel, questing!, they're also total bros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-09 16:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4355669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomostrichchocolates/pseuds/randomostrichchocolates, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Styx_in_the_mud/pseuds/Styx_in_the_mud
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tabris and Aeducan both end up being recruited into the Wardens and somehow become co-team captains despite the fact that they hate each other pretty much at first sight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Duncan is the Exasperated Father on a Road Trip

**Author's Note:**

> SO, here's the prequel no one asked for. It's extremely fun to write and I love Duncan so much more now. Also, I swear me and Styx had so many headcanons about Duncan and Loghain and Maric, etc and we had to put a firm foot down and say there would be no more stories to add when we're already writing a sequel and prequel simultaneously. We can't have a pre-prequel. That would be insane. -R

Duncan sighed at Tabris who was using the bedpost to sharpen her daggers. "Honestly, we are guests, we can't be using their furniture as whetstones, Sylvia."

"They have enough furniture to spare." Tabris said cuttingly, with another quick drag of her knife.

"You remember what I said about fighting?"

"No picking fights just because I'm angry." Tabris mocked and Duncan resisted the urge to slam his head repeatedly against the nearest wall.

"I have an audience with the king this afternoon. Would you like to come?" he asked.

"No, just finish quickly. Let's get out of here."

Duncan massaged at his temples.

***

"So, you didn't get any recruits in Orzammar, then?" Tabris asked him slyly.

"Don't get cheeky with me."

"I wasn't." she said. "So, what? The dwarves said they were too good for you?"

Duncan frowned. "The king's middle child, his daughter, she looked promising but she's also Endrin's favorite. I doubt he'd part from her willingly."

"That's the one that won their Proving, or something, right?"

"That's the one."

They walked in silence for a bit until they reached the next clump of darkspawn in the deep roads.

***

Sereda stumbled a bit and cursed. The deepstalker had managed to bite out a chunk in her leg. It wasn't too bad, but it was bleeding and it made it quite hard to walk. Not much of a problem, she thought to herself, they've left me here to die anyhow. Why would I need to walk?

She heard a screech from a cavern behind her and flinched. Ancestors, where were the exits? Or the thaigs? Or anything? It was just endless tunnels as far as the eye could see. For once in Sereda's life, she cursed the world for dwarven construction.

***

Duncan tensed as he heard a sudden scuffle. It was too subtle to be darkspawn and it put him on edge. What else could be down here?, he thought, as he saw Tabris stiffen too, her hands flying to the daggers strapped to her back.

The noise was heard again and Tabris whipped her head around to look at a gaping hole in the tunnels a few feet away from where they stood. She held a hand up to Duncan and moved forward before Duncan had the chance to tell her that he was in charge here and didn't need to _wait behind_.

He watched as Tabris creeped forward to the opening and when she finally reached the gap, pounced. Duncan was for a split second awed by her form, watching as she jumped onto the shadowy figure near the opening and used the opponents larger mass against them, flipping them over. Tabris was quick to pull a knife out and press the figure down threateningly.

"Get off me, elf!" The thing growled and Duncan realized it definitely wasn't a darkspawn.

"Sylvia," he said carefully approaching, but the elf had not sheathed her daggers.

"I have a name," Tabris said. "And it's not elf. And frankly, that's rude to call people by their race."

"It's not like you were in the mood for introductions with all the flipping, Pointy." The other person growled and Duncan heard Tabris gasp in anger.

"Sylvia, get off, now." he used a hand to help drag the elf off the other person, who he now saw was a dwarf. A dwarf he knew. "Aeducan? I mean, Sereda, was it?"

The dwarf looked over at him and her eyes widened in vague recollection. She opened her mouth as if to answer but was interrupted by Tabris.

"Pointy?" She said in shock. "How dare you, that is so rude, that is... that is racist. You're practically a shem."

Aeducan looked at her in horror. "Are you saying I'm like a _human_?"

"Well, not completely." Tabris gave her a smug smile. "More like a short shem."

"Why you little -" Aeducan's hand went to the sword strapped to her waist and Duncan stepped forward.

"The little one is you, though, dwarf." Tabris said snidely and Duncan stepped firmly in between the two before one was impaled.

"Stop." he said firmly and they both froze. "Sylvia, shut up for just a little bit." Tabris looked aghast but Duncan ignored her and turned to Aeducan. "Lady Aeducan, right? King Endrin's daughter? What are you doing here?"

Aeducan's face, which had been filled with anger before, suddenly crumbled and Duncan saw the glimpse of her crushed expression before it was quickly sealed over with a stony look that betrayed no emotion. "I am not Lady Aeducan any longer. I was exiled." she said simply. "I was charged with killing my brother Trian and was exiled into the deep roads."

"Practically an execution." Duncan stated simply and Aeducan nodded.

There was a silent beat which Tabris interrupted with "Did you actually do it? Kill your own brother?"

Duncan opened his mouth to chastise her but Aeducan was already replying. "Does it matter, Pointy? Either way, I do know exactly how to kill someone."

"I'd be more worried if I thought you could reach this high, short shem."

"Alright." Duncan said loudly before the conversation could get to blows again. "My lady -" he began, but Aeducan cut him off.

"I am not a lady, my house has been stripped from me. Please do away with all the formalities."

"Very well." Duncan said. "Sereda, I see no reason for you to wander the Deep Roads for your crimes. If the Maker had willed you not to live, you would not have found us at all. As leader of the Grey Wardens, I would like to formally invite you to join our order."

"It's not like I have much of a choice, do I?" Aeducan said bitterly.

"Oh, so you think you're too good for joining the Wardens?" Tabris asked with a glare at the dwarf who glared back.

"Sylvia, if I recall correctly, you had very similar thoughts about joining." Duncan said diplomatically. Tabris merely grumbled under her breath. He smiled at the dwarven recruit. "Sereda, we would be honored to have you."

Aeducan gave a small incline of her head in response.

"Now, if we're all done bickering, let's get a move on. The sooner we get out of these deep roads, the sooner I get a good night's sleep." Duncan proclaimed.

He wisely decided to ignore it a few minutes later when he heard Tabris ask Aeducan how the weather was down there and again when he heard Aeducan punch Tabris' arm in response.

***

It was around the twenty-third time Duncan had heard his two charges bickering that he snapped.

"For the love of the Maker!" he shouted, snapping to his feet, and causing the elf and dwarf sitting near the camp fire behind him to freeze. He whirled around to face them. "Do you two _never stop arguing_?" he glared at the pair, his gaze shifting from Tabris to Aeducan, the dwarf looking sheepish while the elf looked defiant and yet the slightest bit scared. That hint of fear made Duncan's anger instantly die and he backed off with a sigh.

"You know what?" Duncan said. "I'm going to go stock up on more supplies. There's a small village nearby and I need a break." he gave them both a pointed look. "Do not kill each other while I'm gone." The two merely gave them innocent looks.

Duncan sighed and muttered "Where's Alistair? I miss Alistair." as he walked out of the camp.

Aeducan and Tabris turned to stare at each other with raised eyebrows.

***

Aeducan swept her sword across the whetstone forcefully.

"Can you _not_ ," Sylvia said with a growl.

"Not what?" Aeducan asked.

"Not sharpen your behemoth sword so loudly."

"I'm sorry, my sword needs to more strength to maintain its edge unlike those toothpicks you call daggers."

"How do you maintain the strength to stand on those stumps you call legs?"

"There's no need for hostility, Pointy." Aeducan said and Sylvia noticed how she easily sidestepped the comment about her height.

"Don't call me that. My name is Tabris." Sylvia said with a growl.

Aeducan dragged her sword against the whetstone and it emitted a slow screech. "Alright, _Tabris_." she said, the tone in her voice mocking. "So, what did you do for Duncan to take you?"

"Why do you care?" Sylvia asked.

Aeducan scoffed. "I don't. I'm trying to be civil. One of us should be mature."

Sylvia snorted. "Mature, she says." Aeducan pointedly did not answer. "How do you know I didn't join the Grey Wardens because I wanted to?" Sylvia asked.

Aeducan laughs. "Don't kid around with me, elf. I know you were there in Orzammar, yet you did not come to see the King during the assembly, demonstrating a lack of interest. You don't seem to have been with Duncan for long. You seem to have accepted your fate, yet you clearly don't look thrilled about it so not a volunteering recruit. So, I ask again, what did you do?"

Sylvia stared at the dwarf in shock. "That was... incredibly observant."

Aeducan shrugged. "Dwarven politics are not well fit for people who can't determine character." she laughed again, a bit self depreciatingly. "As evidenced by my position right now, I suppose."

"I'm not telling you what I did. I don't know if I could trust someone who killed their own brother." Sylvia glared at Aeducan. "Family is everything to me, yet you slay your own kin. I find it ridiculous Duncan even conscripted you."

Aeducan's eyes flashed dangerously. "You know what? On your feet, Ears." The dwarf picked up her sword and hefted it heavily in both hands. Sylvia's hands immediately flew to the daggers on her back. "Let's see how you hold up in a fight."

"Don't complain about losing to me tomorrow."

Aeducan laughed and charged.

***

Duncan stared at the camp in horror. One tent, his tent, had been practically shredded into pieces. The fire had gone out and all around the camp, bags were spilling open, pots and pans overturned. It was chaos.

And in the middle of the clearing were Aeducan and Tabris, both their weapons somehow having been knocked away, now pretty much wrestling each other. Aeducan had the obvious weight advantage, but Tabris' nimble fighting style made her a very difficult opponent to knock down for good.

Duncan walked over to the fighting pair and did not even attempt to stop them. Instead he chose to take a seat on one of the logs near the fire and let out a heavy sigh. That got their attention easily enough.

Slowly, Tabris and Aeducan extracted themselves from the fight and looked around the camp before staring at Duncan nervously.

"Um," Tabris said, shuffling her feet slightly.

Duncan sighed again, harder this time, wondering if there was any way to literally die from mental exhaustion. "I'm not mad," he said at last. He looked up at the two _children_ who were still looking at their feet sheepishly. "I'm just disappointed."

"It was Tabris' fault." Aeducan said immediately. She was awarded with a whack to the shoulder.

"My fault? You challenged me!"

"You accepted!"

"Enough," Duncan said firmly. "You two can clean up camp and share a tent, I suppose. Aeducan, I am taking yours and I am going to sleep." He gave them a considering look filled with weary pain. "Promise me you won't fight." They both nodded their heads fiercely in answer. Finally, Duncan turned around and walked away resisting the urge to stomp his feet.

Aeducan kicked Tabris in the shin as soon as Duncan had turned.

Tabris glared at her and mouthed "Childish." before sticking out her tongue in response. Aeducan rolled her eyes.

***

"You wanted to know what I did?" Tabris said suddenly as they organized the items that had scattered around camp during their fight. Sereda looked at her in surprise. She had not expected an actual answer, especially after that whole response about trust and family.

"Yeah," Sereda replied, curious.

"I killed the son of an arl in Denerim." Tabris looked up at her from where she was picking up a large cooking pot.

Sereda stiffened a bit. "You killed a noble?"

"Yes," Tabris stuck out her chin almost defiantly. "He raped my cousin."

Sereda's eyes widened. Eventually, she nodded, not knowing how else to reply to the knowledge. She had never been good at trusting and it certainly did not help when someone she just met admitted that she had killed a man, albeit for a very good reason.

"Your turn." Tabris' words broke the silence pulling her from her self reflection. "Your real story." Tabris said impatiently when Sereda gave her a curious look.

"Oh." Sereda thought about Trian's cold eyes staring up at her from his dead body and shuddered. "I never killed my brother." she said eventually. "I was betrayed."

"Betrayed by whom?" Tabris asked.

"Someone important." Sereda said simply, trying to avoid thoughts of Bhalen as she had been doing since she had been cast into the Deep Roads. "I was blamed for Trian's murder and my... friend Gorim was branded an accomplice. I was sent to die and I suppose they sent him to the surface somewhere."

"Well, you didn't die, so there's that." Tabris said cheekily, with a small grin.

Sereda looked at her seriously. "Didn't die yet." she paused trying to push grim thoughts away. "You don't think this Joining ritual is all fun and smiles, do you? There's a reason not everyone is trying to be a Grey Warden when it makes you immune to the taint."

Tabris shuddered. "Well, hopefully, they don't make us kill a puppy or anything."

"This isn't a joke." Sereda snapped, dropping a pot. The clanging metal made a loud thump as it hit the floor and they both looked guiltily at Duncan's tent, making sure he hadn't woken up.

Eventually, Tabris turned back to look at her and there was an odd, almost wisdom in her eyes as she said "Of course it's not a joke. But we do what we can to get by, short shem."

And for once the nickname only made Sereda the slightest bit annoyed.

***

Duncan tried to think of simpler times, back when it was just him and Alistair scouting the roads. Alistair, who listened to what he said. Alistair who made terrible jokes and talked too much but at least he didn't fight _constantly_.

Well, no that was a lie. The fighting had died down somewhat since the "Camp Incident", and Duncan assumed they had gotten the actual physical blows out of their system. But now, it was almost worst, what with the inane bickering and stupid _word games_.

"Brown horse!" Aeducan shouted happily.

"That's not how the game works! You only get a point when you see a black dog!" Tabris replied in frustration.

"Yes, but double points for brown horse."

"No!"

"Duncan?" Aeducan asked, conferring his opinion about the stupid game.

"How about triple points for please shut up both of you, Maker's breath!" Duncan growled before trying to walk quick enough so that he would not have to hear them.

"I think that meant he agrees about brown horse." he heard Aeducan say in the distance.

***

They arrived in Ostagar sooner than anticipated, the city's huge towers looming high and the rumbling of the armies heard from at least a mile away. Sylvia was overwhelmed but Aeducan was mostly just looking at the buildings around her in increasing curiosity.

"Humans are so strange." she said eventually to which Sylvia raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?"

Aeducan ran a hand against the side of the tower as they passed by it. "They build things so tall, yet so incredibly unsteady. This looks like a small earthquake could bring it crashing to the ground. It's so dangerous."

Sylvia nodded slightly. "Yeah, well, humans are generally not very bright."

Aeducan caught her eye with a look that said she agreed immensely and was trying not to laugh.

"I don't know if either of you have caught on yet, but I am a human and do in fact hear things when you're talking." Duncan said loudly. And then added "Unfortunately," under his breath.

Aeducan cleared her throat. "So, since we've reached here, now what?"

They approached a bridge that led to the village of Ostagar and were suddenly accosted by the presence of a blonde human, who was grinning and shouting "Duncan!" in excitement. The man was trailed by another dark haired human with a permanent scowl that seemed to be etched on his face. "Ah," the blonde man said. "So, these must be your new recruits?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Duncan bowed his head slightly. "These are the Grey Warden recruits, Tabris of Denerim and Aeducan of Orzammar. And this is King Cailan." he said, gesturing vaguely at the armor clad blonde.

"Oh, Duncan, no need for such formalities, especially when we are to be comrades in the great battle to come!" Cailan laughed heartily. Sylvia and Aeducan raised their eyebrows in unison.

"Great battle?" Duncan asked weakly.

The dark haired man suddenly began to speak. "King Cailan believes it is best to finish off the darkspawn right here in one giant battle. Like in the songs, he said." Sylvia could practically hear the sneer in his voice.

"Oh, Loghain, lighten up." Cailan practically whined before straightening. "Alright, wardens, I'll see you later then. Welcome to Ostagar."

"I'm going to start going grey soon." Duncan mumbled.

"You're already going grey, Duncan." Loghain said with a small chuckle, before sobering and turning to follow his King.

Duncan sighed before turning to Sylvia and Aeducan. "Alright, so there's a warden here named Alistair. Go find him and he'll explain everything. I have other things to attend to so... bye." Sylvia swore the warden practically sprinted away. She could swear she heard him say the words "Never again." and "Where's the nearest tavern, for the Maker's sake?"

"You think we stressed him out?" Sylvia asked Aeducan.

"Well us and naive King Cailan over there." Aeducan replied.

"Huh," Sylvia said. "Alright, then, let's find this Alistair."


	2. Alistair is Baffled by the Newest Warden Recruits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wardens meet Alistair, and he is forever baffled by their relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words can not describe how much I love Tabris and Aeducan tbh -Styx

The two women watched Duncan’s swiftly retreating form with some bemusement.

“So….” said Aeducan slowly “Any idea where we’re supposed to find this Alistair?”

“Not a clue.”

“Okay then, let’s just search the camp until we find him.”

“I don’t have to listen to you, shorty.”

“Well, I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas!”

Tabris really couldn’t argue with that, so she followed Sereda with only token protest.

 

***

The camp at Ostagar was huge. Neither Aeducan nor Tabris had seen so many humans in one place. Humans weren’t exactly common in Orzammar, and in the Denerim Alienage, if a human noticed you… well, let’s just say it was much safer to be ignored. Tabris found herself scooting a little closer to the dwarf as she shot the humans suspicious looks. If Aeducan noticed, she didn’t say a word. Then again she still looked at the sky in open fear, despite having been on the surface for over a week now, so she probably had her own issues to worry about.

There was a pervading sense of otherness that seemed to follow them. People would stop conversations as they passed by, and gave them openly curious, or even hostile looks. Aeducan glared back, her hand twitching towards her sword, and when she snuck a glance back at Tabris she noticed the elf staring straight ahead, ears pressed flat against her skull. For the first time since she met her, Tabris looked truly frightened. Aeducan quickened her pace.

***

“You there, elf! What’s your name?”

Tabris froze.

“It’s Pic, ser.” came the nervous response, and she let out a breath and quickened her pace to catch up with Aeducan, who was talking to the Quartermaster.

***

The Quartermaster was surprisingly helpful, pointing them in the direction where he’d seen Alistair last. They found a tall, blond man confronting a mage, who seemed to be determined to be difficult. Aeducan rolled her eyes at the obvious pride in the mage’s tone.

“I will _not_ be harassed like this!” exclaimed the mage

“Yes. _I’m_ harassing _you_ by delivering a message.” replied the man. He sounded like he was physically resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Tabris snorted.

The mage made an exasperated noise and stormed off, and the man turned, noticing his audience for the first time.

“The one good thing about the blight is that it really has a way of bringing people together.” He said with a rueful smile.

Tabris grinned. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Aeducan elbowed her slightly and she frowned, trying to subtly step on the dwarf’s foot.  Aeducan ignored her, turning to the man and saying “So, you’re Alistair then? Duncan sent us.”

Was it her imagination, or did Aeducan catch a hint of apprehension in his eyes? It was gone in seconds though, so she decided to dismiss it.

“That’s me. You’re the new recruits, then? Duncan did mention something about you.” Actually, Duncan had managed to meet him before heading off to the tavern, warning him that the new recruits were a little… antsy and to try not to start a fight. Alistair didn’t think mentioning that would be prudent. He tried to look them over subtly. They didn’t look too harmful, just tired mostly, but Duncan wouldn’t have warned him if he didn’t have good reason.

“I’m Aeducan, Sereda Aeducan. And this is Tabris.”

“Just Tabris?” asked Alistair.

“For now.” replied the elf.

“Well it’s good to have some new blood in the order. We don’t get many women in the Wardens. I wonder why that is?” his voice trailed off a bit at the end.

Aeducan raised an eyebrow and Tabris fixed him with a look. “You want more women in the wardens do you?” she asked

“Would that be so terrible?” Aeducan’s eyebrows were lost in her hairline, and Tabris smirked a little, and Alistair reddened “Not that I’m some drooling lecher or anything… please stop looking at me like that!” The last sentence was said in a rush, and the two women exchanged a look. _Senior to us, but generally harmless_ seemed to be the general consensus.

Alistair cleared his throat. “Anyway, as a junior member of the order I’ll be accompanying you when you and the other recruits are preparing for your joining ritual.”

“Ritual?” asked Aeducan, “Duncan never mentioned anything about a ritual.”

Tabris opened her mouth to say that _yes, in fact, Duncan had mentioned the ritual in vague terms, what were you going on about, short shem_ , but was stopped by Aeducan stepping on her foot. She bit her tongue trying to yelp and the dwarf glared at her, raising her eyebrows to communicate _Shut up, I'm trying to get him to talk_. Tabris relented.

“He didn’t? Well, it must have slipped his mind. He did seem a little stressed.”

The two recruits suddenly looked extremely sheepish.

“That, er, may have been our fault.” said Tabris, rubbing the back of her neck.

“This ritual,” said Aeducan thoughtfully “Can you tell us anything about it?” Her voice was calculating and Tabris briefly wondered what she was thinking.

“I really can’t,” stammered Alistair. “But don’t worry about it too much, it er, it doesn’t take very long.”

Another look was exchanged, eyebrows raised. Aeducan finally seemed to relent slightly.

“All right, then.” said Tabris, "Let’s go."

“Lead on.” said Alistair.

***

Okay, Alistair could now understand why Duncan had been so stressed. They had been walking for nearly fifteen minutes now, and Aeducan and Tabris had been bickering for twelve of them. In fact, they were bickering now.

“I’m telling you, we’re going in circles!” exclaimed Aeducan throwing her hands up in the air. “This must be the third time we’ve passed that man!”

“How can you tell?” argued Tabris. “All shems look the same!”

“Well, you’ve got a point…”

“No, she really doesn’t.” groaned Alistair from his place at the end of the line.

***

“I’m telling you, shorty, we should try going left, we’ve already gone right twice now!”

“We went left last time, remember we passed all those mages!”

“That was right, not left!”

“Oh for the love of the ancestors, pointy, if you don’t shut up only one of us is going to make it to that ritual!”

“Is that a threat, short shem?”

“Ladies,” interjected Alistair “You might want to watch- oh never mind.”

Aeducan, busy glaring behind her at Tabris, collided spectacularly into a fretful looking man. Tabris, who was close behind, managed to fall into the both of them. Alistair sighed, and offered them a hand up. The man picked himself up and dusted himself off, fixing the two with an irritated look, which quickly morphed into one of recognition.

“You’re the new Warden recruits, right?” he asked. Apparently word spread quickly through camp.

“That’s us.” said Aeducan, face red from the encounter.

The man scratched his chin “I could really use your help. I’m the Kennel Master, here. We’ve got a Mabari whose owner was killed in the last charge, and the poor boy came in contact with the taint. I have some medicine here, but I’ll need to muzzle him first, and he’s not letting me come anywhere near him.”

“And you need us to do what exactly?” asked Tabris, looking at the creature in the pen, who was whining and backing away from the gate.

“Just go on in and muzzle him.”

Aeducan looked at Tabris, and she looked back. “Okay.” they said together. Alistair’s jaw dropped. This is the first time he’d seen the two agree on _anything_.

He cleared his throat. “Are you certain we have time for this?” asked Alistair pointedly. They both ignore him. Tabris jumped the fence, and Aeducan entered through the gate with a muttered “showoff”.

Alistair then watched with his mouth open as both women cautiously approach the creature.

“Hello, sweetheart!” Tabris cooed softly approaching the Mabari slowly, making sure her hands were visible at all times.

“Who’s a good dog!” said Aeducan as she approached from the front, making slow deliberate movements.

The dog wagged his tail weakly, and Tabris moved to pet him.

“Oh, you’re such a sweet dog!”

Tabris turned to Aeducan. “I’ll hold him down, you muzzle him? You can reach better.”

Aeducan ignored the jibe and nodded, tying the muzzle around the Mabari’s snout as Tabris spoke softly to the dog. The dog growled weakly, but was otherwise silent, and they made their way out of the pen.

“Thank you! I can start treating him right away!” said the Kennel Master gratefully “Actually, are you going into the wilds anytime soon?”

They looked at Alistair who sighed and said “Yes, but-”

They didn’t let him finish “Yup” said Tabris.

“Excellent, there’s an herb that grows there, it’s a very distinctive white flower with a red center. It would really help speed up his recovery.”

“We’ll keep an eye out.” Said Aeducan decisively, as Alistair made an exasperated noise from behind.

***

When they finally found Duncan in front of the fire, he gave them a look like he knew _exactly_ what they’d been up too. They smiled serenely at him, and he sighed, turning to the men next to him.

“Daveth, Ser Jory, these are the other new recruits, Sereda Aeducan and Sylvia Tabris.”

“I am glad to finally meet you.” said Ser Jory, while Daveth looked them up and down, grinned, and said “Pleasure.” Aeducan glanced away from him quickly and Tabris groaned softly, which was drowned out by a strangled noise from Alistair.

“You are to venture into the Korcari Wilds and complete two tasks. The first is to procure a vial of Darkspawn blood each, and the second is to recover some old documents from an old Grey Warden outpost.”

Aeducan and Tabris sighed in tandem. This wasn’t going to be easy.

***

Of course the first thing that happened when they entered the Wilds was a wolf attack. Aeducan found herself in the middle of the mass of snarling creatures along with Alistair and Ser Jory while Tabris and Daveth darted in and out of the fray, picking off stragglers. When the last of wolves fell with a whimper, the party gave a collective sigh of relief.

Daveth smirked at Tabris.

“Nice moves.” he said, wiping the blood spray off his cheeks. Tabris rolled her eyes as she cleaned her blades roughly on the grass.

“No really, very… fluid.”

“WE SHOULD REALLY KEEP MOVING.” Alistair said loudly, practically shoving the group forward. Tabris smiled at him gratefully and Aeducan would swear he blushed. That was interesting.

***

It was easy to forget that not everyone had faced Darkspawn. With Orzammar right in the middle of Darkspawn territory, the fight never ended for the dwarves, and Sereda had fought several even before being cast out. Even Tabris had faced down a few as they had made their way out of the deep roads, but Daveth and Ser Jory were another matter altogether.

The soldier was the last remaining member of an encampment, and he begged for their help. They couldn’t do much more than bandage him up and direct him towards camp, but it might have been enough to save his life. Ser Jory was understandably shaken, and it had taken all of Alistair’s (admittedly limited) persuasive power to calm him down.

It lasted just until they faced their first genlock. He visibly shook as he faced the creature down, and Daveth actually whimpered. Tabris and Aeducan exchanged an exasperated look before charging the creature down. Humans, honestly!

***

“Hey, short shem, look over there!”

“I swear, pointy, if it’s another one of those creepy statues I’m going to-”

“It’s not, I swear! What did the Kennel Master say that herb looked like again?”

“A white flower with a red center. You think-”

“Yeah, look at it!”

“Well I guess you would know, being an elf and all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Aren’t all elves are supposed to pick flowers and frolic through the woods?”

“I _don’t_ frolic!”

Alistair cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him and their other companions, who were looking at them with various levels of confusion. “Is this… for the Mabari?”

“Yes.”

“We have two more vials of blood to collect as well as the treaties to find, is this really the time?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then.”

***

Tabris was surrounded by the darkspawn, they gathered in clumps around her and she looked around helplessly for a method of escape.

Suddenly, there was a large swooping noise as the darkspawn lost their footing and collapsed around her. Seeing her chance, Tabris darted out of the circle to see Aeducan looking immensely pleased with herself.

"You're welcome, elf." she said, using her sword to cleave a large piece out of a darkspawn she just knocked down.

Tabris lifted a dagger and threw it at the dwarf, who flinched and ducked. There was a whistling noise as the dagger flew through the air and then a choking noise as it hit its darkspawn target. Aeducan looked behind her in wonder and the hurlock who had snuck up on her and the knife protruding from its neck. Tabris easily removed the dagger before turning to Aeducan and saying "You're welcome," in a mocking voice.

After a beat, they both nodded, and turned to find more darkspawn to kill. Alistair looked on in bafflement.

 

***

They should have known that picking up the treaties wouldn’t be as simple as Duncan made it out to be.

“They’re gone.” said Tabris looking into the chest which was supposed to house the documents.

“What do you mean they’re gone?”

“I mean they’re not. There.”

Daveth groaned. “Of course they’re not. That would be too easy.”

“So what do we do now?” asked Ser Jory.

The group collectively turned to Alistair, who shrugged rather unhelpfully.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” the voice came from the ruins directly behind them, and all five of them jumped. A woman made her way slowly towards them, the staff strapped to her back marking her as an apostate mage. “Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst bones long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these Darkspawn filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?”

“Why,” asked Aeducan with a sigh “can’t we ever meet anyone normal?”

***

It turned out that the woman’s name was Morrigan, and it was her mother who had cleared out the Grey Warden cache. She made it very clear that she considered Tabris and Aeducan the only ones in the group worth talking to, which was understandable in Aeducan’s opinion, since Alistair had managed to pick a fight within two sentences and Daveth was crying about Witches of the Wilds through the entire conversation. She seemed to like them enough to take them to her mother though.

Tabris didn’t believe in the “Witches of the Wilds” but if she had to choose anyone to fit the role, Morrigan and her mother would be her first pick. While Morrigan had a look of dangerous beauty about her, Flemeth was probably the model for every wicked hag in the old stories, and she was cryptic enough to match.

“Are we really about to take help from a creepy old woman in the woods?” Tabris muttered to Aeducan “Every story I’ve heard warns against that.”

“Do we really have a choice?” asked Aeducan. Tabris was glad to see she didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea either.

After a few cryptic warnings that she, of course, refused to explain Flemeth handed them the treaties and told them to get out. Well, not in as many words, but the sentiment was there. The four recruits were silent as they followed Morrigan out of the Wilds. From what they understood, the easy part was over, the _real_ test would begin once they got back to camp.


	3. Men With Oily-Looking Hair Should Not Be Trusted (aka Loghain's a douche)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tabris and Aeducan finally go through their Joining and so the battle commences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I've never written a story with OCs (although these are not quite OCs I suppose) but I'm actually so in love with these two wardens I just love them so much ahhhhh -R

The trip back to camp seemed a lot shorter in comparison, but Alistair supposed that was just because they weren't getting lost or arguing about directions every four minutes. Well, by they, he meant Aeducan and Tabris. He supposed it could also be shorter because Morrigan was using weird magic voodoo on them or had taken them through a shortcut but he decided not to dwell on those thoughts.

"Alright," he said as he walked through the gates, Ser Jory and Daveth trailing behind him, Aeducan and Tabris up front, and he attempted to regain the control that being senior warden should grant him. "Let's take these blood vials and documents to Duncan as soon as possible, so that we can get started on the ritual."

"Wait," Aeducan held up a hand. "We need to go get this flower to the Kennel Master first."

Alistair stared at her dumbly. "Can't that wait until afterwards?" he asked.

"No." Tabris and Aeducan said in unison, pinning him with a heavy glare.

Alistair sighed. "Alright, alright, the dog first then." Tabris smiled at him happily and then turned and headed quickly towards the kennels. Alistair thought briefly about how he was supposed to be the leader and this was probably unfair. He was much better at following, though.

"Lucky," Daveth muttered to him as they started walking. "She never seems to smile at  me like that."

Alistair tried to ignore his burning ears and sped up his pace.

***

"This is exactly what I needed! Thank you!" The Kennel Master exclaimed when Tabris handed him the flower.

"Can we go now?" Alistair asked.

"If you wait a few moments, I can prepare the antidote and we can see if it works." The Kennel Master said. Aeducan turned to Alistair and shook her head.

"We'll be happy to wait." Tabris said with a grin. Alistair wondered if maybe Duncan was right and it was because he wasn't assertive enough.

A few minutes later, the Kennel Master emerged from his pen with a smile. "It worked!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

"How long will he take to heal?" Tabris asked, and Alistair wondered if anyone else noticed her nervous demeanor. He didn't think he'd ever seen the elf look nervous before.

"I can't say for sure, but two days, maybe three." the Kennel Master scratched the back of his head. "If you would like, you can come back then and maybe we can see about getting him to imprint on you."

"You could do that?" Aeducan asked, and Alistair could swear she sounded excited even if her face remained impassive. 

The Kennel Master frowned slightly. "Well, I don't know about how it would work if you both wanted him to imprint on you, but I imagine it's possible."

"Well, then, we will be back in two days." Tabris briefly looked at Aeducan for confirmation and the dwarf nodded subtly. For two people who claimed to find each other incredibly annoying and fought a majority of the time, these two were surprisingly in tune with each other.

"Can we  please go prepare for the Joining now?" Alistair whined slightly. Duncan would have his head if it was already nightfall by the time they got there. He still had Cailan's war council tonight as well.

"Fine, fine," Aeducan waved her hand at him absent-mindedly and gave the Kennel Master a nod in farewell.

Tabris gestured forward. "Lead the way, Alistair."

***

Aeducan felt tense as she stood in the clearing with the other three prospective Grey Wardens. Alistair and Duncan had arrived after convening a while ago and were now preparing some kind of goblet of liquid. Alistair had taken the darkspawn blood they had collected and it made her feel rightfully anxious.

"Trust is a fool's curse" her father had once told her, when he had sent his own cousin away into the thaigs on an expedition after catching wind of an assassination plot. 

She definitely did not trust Duncan. Alistair seemed well meaning, if somewhat slow but that did not equate trust either. She was sure they were not telling her everything, making her want to run away or possibly draw her sword before things progressed further.

Beside her, Tabris seemed to be alert but did not look nervous. Daveth looked cocky as always, his uncomfortable lingering stare itching at her skin, making her wish she was back in Orzammar so she could have him thrown into the Proving Arena to fight a Bronto. Ser Jory looked terrified, thoughts he went on to indicate vocally.

"I've just never met a foe that I could not engage with physically." Ser Jory was saying as Aeducan tuned back into the conversation. I can sympathize with that statement, she thought.

"Will the two of you please shut up?" Tabris said with a growl.

"Ooh, bossy, I like it." Daveth said and Tabris seemed to flinch slightly.

Aeducan stepped forward threateningly but was interrupted by Duncan finally speaking. 

"At last, we come to the Joining. The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation. So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank the darkspawn blood, and mastered their taint." Aeducan froze. She heard Ser Jory stuttering out a question but there was blood rushing into her ears.

They had to drink the blood of the darkspawn. That was... that was horrid. That was practically suicidal. The others were speaking around her but Aeducan ignored them, trying to map out an easy escape route. She had been ready to be a Grey Warden if it gave her new purpose and got her out of those wretched deep roads, but she was not going to escape one death only to have a new one, however unlikely.

And suddenly, Daveth was drinking from the large silver chalice that Duncan had been holding moments before. And then there was screaming and Aeducan snapped herself back to attention, watching the man writhing on the floor, his voice scratching painfully through the air. Tabris' ears had flattened against her head and Aeducan drew her sword out slightly from its sheath.

"You ask too much." Jory said, backing away. "There is no glory in this." His voice was trembling and Aeducan had a brief moment to wonder why Ser Jory ever agreed to leave his wife and child in the first place, before Duncan was unsheathing his sword and moving forward. Aeducan acted fast.

Duncan stilled, his sword just resting against Ser Jory's stomach, the other man's sword having been tossed aside easily, Aeducan's sword pressed against his neck. They stood in tableau, no one moving, Tabris and Alistair both drawing their weapons, unsure of how to proceed with the situation. "Let him go, Duncan." Aeducan kept her voice low and threatening, a trick her brother Trian had taught her back when they actually acted like siblings instead of competing race horses.

"He must go through the Joining, or he dies, Sereda." Duncan said calmly, his eyes never leaving Jory's frightened ones. "It is a rule. No one who knows the truth of the Joining can walk away freely."

"Ser Jory," Tabris said, moving towards the man who was trembling just slightly. Alistair tried to reach out and grab her shoulder, trying to get her to stay back from the scene. "Listen to me. If you run, this will end in a bloodbath which you will never survive. Even if you killed Duncan and Alistair, there would be the Ostagar Camp waiting to kill you when you left." She glanced at Aeducan, who caught her eye and nodded. Tabris pressed on. "If you drink from the chalice, you have at least a fifty percent chance of surviving."

"But... but my child... my wife..." Ser Jory said quietly, his voice a whisper.

Tabris carefully placed a hand on the knight's shoulder and he seemed to relax. "If you survive the Joining, you can go home to her as a member of the Grey Wardens. If you don't even participate, you'll die here and now at the hands of a man who has many years of experience on you. Do the math, Ser Jory. Do you want the smallest chance of seeing your wife again?" the knight nodded slowly. "Then, the Joining." he glanced at Tabris who gave him a wide eyed meaningful look, before turning to Duncan and nodding, putting his hands up in surrender.

Duncan slowly sheathed his sword again. Tabris turned to Aeducan and muttered "Aeducan, sheath your sword." The dwarf looked reluctant and still angry, but eventually she backed off.

Duncan brought Ser Jory the chalice. The knights screams when he died were somehow worst than Daveth's, and all Aeducan could think about was whether he would have made it out alive if he had chosen to fight. Beside her, Tabris seemed horrified as well, but somewhat resigned to the situation. The elf took the chalice next and after a contemplative pause, she took a deep breath and drank. 

Tabris stumbled slightly and Aeducan turned to her in concern. But unlike Daveth and Ser Jory, she did not start screaming, instead only putting her hand to her head and making distressed noises and grunts.

"Congratulations, Tabris, from this moment on, you are a Grey Warden." Tabris sank to the ground, cradling her head in her hands, trembling.

Duncan turned to Aeducan and raised an eyebrow. Aeducan glared at him. There was a nudge from behind and she turned to see Alistair looking at her in concern. "The advice that Tabris gave Ser Jory holds true for you as well." 

She sighed and with only the smallest of hand tremors, took the chalice from Duncan's hands.

She was sure Duncan gave her the same majestic line about becoming a Grey Warden, but honestly all Aeducan could hear was the shrieking of darkspawn thundering through her skull.

***

"Short shem, wake up," Tabris shook the dwarf slightly and watched as Aeducan blinked into consciousness and rocketed up with a gasp.

"Where?" she said hoarsely, turning her head left and right.

"We survived the joining." Tabris replied, smirking slightly and offering the dwarf a hand so she could get to her feet. Aeducan looked ill. "Listen," Tabris said. "If you throw up on my shoes, I'm going to make you clean them by hand."

That seemed to get a reaction. Aeducan looked at Tabris' outstretched hand and snorted, opting to get to her feet on her own. "I'm sure you'd try to, Pointy."

Tabris grinned at the snarky reply and opened her mouth with a ready retort but was interrupted by Duncan. "Welcome back." he smiled at them and Tabris noticed that Aeducan involuntarily seemed to back away from the man.

"Two more deaths," Alistair sighed. "In my Joining, only one of us died... but it was horrible." he shuddered and Tabris felt the pain behind the words. "I'm glad at least two of you made it through."

"So, am I." Tabris said with a small smile that Alistair returned.

"How do you feel?" Duncan asked gently and Tabris wondered how she could reconcile the kind man before her with the one who was ready to kill a man in cold blood merely for being afraid.

Aeducan let out a low growl that Tabris was sure only she heard. "Probably better than how Jory felt in his last moments." she said in a monotone, giving Duncan a piercing look.

"He was warned there was no turning back," Duncan said simply. "As were you all. He had been about to draw his blade, and I would have had no choice."

Aeducan merely shook her head, turning to look at Alistair instead of Duncan. The older man sighed slightly.

Tabris grimaced at the scene before facing Duncan. "So, what now?"

"Take some time to reconcile. When you are both ready, I'd like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king." Duncan stated.

"I'm ready now." Aeducan said, giving Tabris a questioning look. She nodded in reply.

"Very well," Duncan said. "Then let's proceed."

***

"Do you understand why we need three people to light a beacon?" Aeducan asked Tabris.

"Not quite. Alistair?"

"I've no clue. I suppose the king just wants to be extra sure that the beacon is lit in time." Alistair rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I'd much rather be out slaying darkspawn on the battlefield than running this measly errand." Tabris grumbled.

Aeducan rolled her eyes. "Every battle has measly errands, elf. Someone has to do them."

There was a moment of peaceful silence as they continued their trek towards the tower. 

"Loghain really seems annoyed with the king , doesn't he?" Tabris said finally.

Aeducan snorted. "I would be too. The king honestly has no clue what he's doing. He thinks the archdemon can be slain right now with the current forces we possess."

"Hey," Alistair protested. "The King is doing the best he can. I'd like to see one of you try to do his job."

Aeducan snuck a glance at Tabris and raised her eyebrows, causing them both to burst out laughing.

"I'd be a brilliant King, I'll have you know, Alistair." Aeducan called out, moving ahead as she caught sight of the tip of the tower in the distance.

***

Alistair stood next to the lit beacon, worriedly scanning the battlefield. "Where is he?" he growled.

"We can't possibly be that late." Tabris said, coming up behind him. "What's happening?"

"I can see the battlefield, but I only see the King's forces down there." Alistair ran a hand through his hair. "Where on earth are Loghain and his men?"

Aeducan appeared at his other shoulder. "Wasn't he supposed to be waiting at the hills to the east side?" she asked.

"I... maybe?" Alistair searched the horizon. "I don't remember, honestly."

"I'm pretty sure that was it. And those," Aeducan raised an arm to point towards a distant elevation in the ground. "Are the hills on the east side. So, where on earth are Loghain's men if they're not there or on the battlefield?"

Alistair's eyes widened. He watched the battlefield in concern, as the darkspawn forces seemed to surge in, infinitely larger than the amount of men fighting below. "They're not going to make it." he whispered. "Duncan."

"Alistair, we have to get out of here now." Aeducan said sharply, putting a hand on his shoulder and another on Tabris'. "We've been betrayed, we have to leave!"

That was the last thing Alistair remembered hearing before there was a deafening crash as the roof of the tower caved in and darkspawn descended.


	4. Dragons and Witches and Wardens, Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Ostagar the Wardens and Alistar are given their quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was delayed partially because of writers block and partially because apparently you have to study in college? Idk. Anyway, the semester is almost over, at least for me, so I did the thing! I really don't know which I like writing more: Morrigans POV or Tabris-Aeducan-Alistair interactions. -Styx

Tabris woke with a start in a strange room, shouting about dragons. The cotton sheets surrounding her seemed to burn her skin and she shoved them off, sitting up in the little cot and trying to remember where she was. A quick look around the room showed that Aeducan was in the bed next to hers, in much the similar position. She caught her eye, and the dwarf gave a quick nod. Tabris tried to ignore the wave of relief she felt at the sight of her comrade who seemed uninjured, if a bit shaken.

“Hey short shem, have any… weird dreams?”

“This whole scenario feels likes a weird dream, pointy.”

“Ha Ha, very funny. I’m being serious.”

Aeducan sobered and gave her a thoughtful look. “I don’t remember much. One minute we’re watching the King and Wardens get massacred on the field, with no help from Loghain’s troops, and the next thing I know the roof’s falling on us. And then-“ she cut herself off abruptly, and Tabris raised an eyebrow. This seemed to match up with her memories, but she had to be sure.

“And then?”

“You’ll think I’m delusional, but we were rescued. By a dragon.”

Tabris tried to hide a sigh of relief and carefully composed her features. “I’d say you _were_ delusional shorty, except… I remember it too.”

The two stared at each other, and then collectively groaned.

“What the fuck.” Said Aeducan succinctly.

Tabris couldn’t help but agree.

***

Morrigan wasn’t really sure why her mother had chosen to save the three Grey Wardens, but then she hardly ever knew her mother’s reasoning behind anything. The women she didn’t mind much, they seemed like they had a few brains in their heads, but the man was insufferable. He was suspicious and whiny, which was the worst possible combination of traits in any man. She agreed that her mother’s interference was highly suspicious but at least she had the good sense to keep the thought to herself.

Unable to listen to him blather on, Morrigan had left to check on the other two invalids. When she entered the room, she found the two in the midst of a deep conversation.

“I see you two are awake.”

They turned sharply to face her, the Tabris’ hand slipping instinctively underneath the pillow in search of a weapon that wasn’t there, while Aeducan seemed to crouch into a defensive position. Interesting.

“You won’t find anything under there.” she said mildly to the elf, who reddened, but still met her eye defiantly.

Aeducan was the one to speak. “You’re Morrigan, the girl from the Wilds.” she said, choosing her words carefully

“Yes, tis I.” acknowledged the witch with a small nod in the direction of the two wardens.

“Was it you who rescued us then?” asked Tabris, her tone as cautious as her companion’s.

Morrigan hid a smile at their obvious suspicion and confusion. She _had_ had a feeling that these two were the sensible ones of the group. “No, twas my mother, in fact.”

The two wardens exchanged a startled look that aroused Morrigan’s suspicions. She caught Aeducan’s eye. “How does your memory fare? Do you remember anything at all?”

“Well I remember getting overrun by Darkspawn….” The dwarf spat out the last word like it was a particularly rotten piece of meat, yet something about the way she let the statement trail off as well as the somewhat apprehensive look on Tabris’ face made it clear to Morrigan that there was more to the statement. Never mind, she wouldn’t push, at least not this time. Instead she decided to fill in the gaps of their memories. “You are in a cabin, in the Wilds. I am tending to your bandages. The man who was meant to answer your call deserted the field. The Darkspawn won the battle.” she said, allowing every scrap of contempt she felt towards the deserter to color her voice. Such an act of cowardice had no place in the wilds, and it had no place in the battlefield either. “Those he left behind were massacred. Your friend is not taking it very well.” Morrigan stifled a snort. That would be an understatement.

The two wardens exchanged a quick glance.

“Our friend?” asked Aeducan.

“You mean Alistair?” enquired Tabris at the same time.

“The suspicious dim-witted one, yes.” Said Morrigan with a nod. “He’s outside by the fire. Mother wanted to speak with you when you awoke.”

The elf and the dwarf seemed to have a heated conversation made up entirely of eyebrow movements and facial expressions before Aeducan sighed and said “Fine, go.”

That was all Tabris needed, and she pushed herself off of the bed, hastily pulled on her armor and strode quickly to the door. Upon reaching, she paused and turned around. “Thank you, Morrigan.” she said, a little stiffly, but genuinely none the less. Morrigan tried to hide her surprise at the gratitude, and strongly suspected that she had failed.

“You’re welcome, though t’was my mother more than I. I am no healer after all.”

Tabris gave her a tentative half smile, before exiting the cottage, leaving a somewhat bewildered Morrigan staring after her. There was the clearing of a throat behind her, and she turned to face the dwarf, who was still sitting with her sheets pulled up to her chin. She gave the witch a smirk that reminded her a little too much of her mother before asking, in a deceptively innocent tone, “Morrigan, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

***

Alistair had started pacing as soon as Morrigan had left the area. Though both witches had assured him that his comrades had survived the battle, he didn’t trust them as far as he could spit. It had all happened so quickly, The Darkspawn closed in, the roof collapsed on their heads, and Duncan… well, he wasn’t quite ready to think about that. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and made yet another pass in front of the fire. Flemeth had long ago gone for a walk after giving him an impatient scoff and Morrigan had gone to check on the other wardens, leaving him alone with his thoughts. It probably wasn’t the best place for him to be.

“Alistair?” called a soft voice from the direction of the hut, and he spun wildly, hand moving to the hilt of his sword.

“Tabris!” He exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief. A weight lifted from his chest as he gave her a surreptitious once over. She gave him a shy, tentative smile, and something fluttered in his stomach. He decided not to think too deeply on that, pushing hastily into conversation. “I thought for sure you were dead!” he exclaimed

She smirked, though even he could tell it was forced “It takes more than a little Darkspawn to kill me.”

“I’m glad you’re alright” he said, giving her a warm smile.

“You as well.”

“And Aeducan?” he asked, suddenly remembering the third member of their party. Tabris snorted.

“She’s interrogating the witch.”

Alistair felt a pang of sympathy for Morrigan. It was never good to be on the other side of one of Aeducan’s interrogations.

“There,” said a voice from behind him, making him jump “I told you they would be fine.” Flemeth seemed to melt into view from the shadows of the wilds. “The other one is approaching now.” She nodded towards the hut where, sure enough, Aeducan was whispering to Tabris.

Alistair watched the two newest Grey Warden recruits with a wry smile. Whatever happened next, it was certain to be very, very interesting.

 

***

 

The fact that she wasn’t screaming in frustration said a lot about the current state of Aeducan’s life. She could handle the darkspawn. She could handle the dragon. She could even handle whatever weird, pseudo-courtship Tabris and Alistair had going on. But being one of the only three Gray Wardens left in Ferelden? Having a quest of this magnitude thrust onto her without even the slightest warning? That was a bit much.

“Do either of you” she asked conversationally as they huddled together in front of the hut, trying to ignore Flemeth’s smug stare and Morrigan’s somewhat indignant one “find this entire situation… surreal?”

Tabris snorted. “I gave up on anything resembling reality when the bloody dragon showed up.”

“Good to know.”

“Glad to help.”

Aeducan sighed, but didn’t rise to the bait. Tabris’ customary smirk was a fraction too stiff and Aeducan’s own nerves were frayed. It would be a shame to destroy Flemeth’s hut after she had been such a good host. So it was with Herculean effort that she decided to steer their conversation back on track.

“I think we should take Morrigan with us.”

These words seemed to finally shake Alistair from his stupor, he’d been unnaturally pensive ever since the Arl of Redcliffe had been mentioned. “You’re joking, right?”

Aeducan straightened her shoulders unconsciously. “And why would I be joking? I happen to think she’d make a valuable addition to the team!”

Alistair’s only response was to splutter indignantly and make a series of aborted gestures.

Tabris made a pensive noise, and Aeducan rounded on her. “And what’s your problem?”  


The elf bit her lip. “I don’t know about this shorty, there’s something shady about her.”

Aeducan’s eyebrows rose “What do you mean shady?”

“I _mean_ we hardly know a thing about her other than the fact that she’s a magic user who grew up in the wilds.” Said the elf, meeting her eyes directly

“And since when has not knowing a person stopped us from joining forces with them _Sylvia_?”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“We hardly knew a thing about each other before we started traveling together.”

Tabris waved a dismissive hand “That’s different. Morrigan is _clearly_ not equipped for this mission.”

“Not _equipped?_ ” Aeducan’s voice jumped an incredulous octave “Your argument is that she’s _not equipped_? Because I hardly think any of us are the ready to take on Loghain at this very moment.”

Tabris furrowed her brow, before trying another tactic “And exactly how much of an asset would she be to the team anyway?”

Alistair opened his mouth to say something, but Aeducan shot him such a poisonous glare that he backed off, hands raised in surrender. Part of her felt bad, but honestly, the man should know better by now. She turned back to Tabris, fuming.

“She is a magic user, which already gives her an advantage over most. She knows the wilds and the surrounding areas like the back of her hand, she’s got some knowledge of poisons and things, she can probably cook a damn sight better than Alistair, and….” She caught the look in her companion’s eye and trailed off “and you already knew all of that didn’t you?”

Tabris grinned “Feel better?” she asked in lieu of a response.

Aeducan growled, because even if she might be a tiny bit less tense she wasn’t going to admit it. Alistair sighed. “So I take it the witch is coming with us?”

“Yup” said Tabris cheerfully

“I hope you fall in the swamp on our way out.” Aeducan groused, and turned sharply on her heel to tell Flemeth and Morrigan the good news. She didn’t bother to hide her smile at the hearty laughter that followed her to the fire.


	5. In Which Tabris is Never Letting This Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wardens meet a new (god-sent?) addition to the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of Aeducan comparing the Maker to an archdemon brought me endless amusement -R

"Will you two _shut up_?!" Sereda snapped, causing Alistair to abruptly shut his mouth and Morrigan to smirk in satisfaction. "It's been _nothing_ but bickering and sniping from Flemeth's place to here and I _actually think_ I might be starting to lose my mind _._ " Sereda flexed her hand around the hilt of her sword dangerously. "I would greatly appreciate not going insane, so unless both of you shut it, I'm going to be forced to gut the more annoying one."

Tabris snickered.

Sereda turned on her. "What?" she growled.

Tabris shook her head somewhat fondly. "Nothing, it's just..." she grinned at the dwarf "Who would have ever thought you'd end up sounding so much like Duncan."

Sereda groaned.

***

"Did someone hear that?" Sylvia asked cautiously a few hours later.

"I thought it was me being able to hear my own thoughts again." Aeducan quipped back.

Sylvia elbowed her. "No, you twit, listen." There was a ruffling of underbrush that accompanied her request that made Aeducan pause.

Morrigan yawned. "The woods are full of creatures. Of course, some are going to make noise."

"Shut up." the elf hissed, scanning the foliage around them.

Suddenly there was a crash from behind and the party whipped around in expectation of a fight. Only to be confronted by a large brown shape that did not quite resemble darkspawn.

"Is that...?" Alistair started to ask, trailing off. He was interrupted by a twin shout from the other two Wardens.

"Dog!" the Wardens called out in unison, the brown shaped mass bounding towards them joyfully in response, tail wagging earnestly.

"He found us!" Aeducan laughed, giving the dog a firm pat on the head while Sylvia had leaned down to let the pup lick her all over.

Alistair groaned. "So, I assume we're keeping the mutt?"

"Of course." came the reply from the duo, still more concerned with their canine friend.

"Wonderful." Morrigan drawled. "Interestingly enough, we now have a dog as a companion and Alistair is still the worst smelling member on the team."

Aeducan and Tabris were too caught up with their new Mabari to pay attention to the bickering.

***

"Well, this place sure is dreary." Alistair commented dryly.

"We're in the middle of a blight, Alistair, of course it's dreary." Tabris sighed.

"Well, yeah, but -"

"We could probably buy some supplies over there." Aeducan interrupted, inclining her head towards a building a few paces in front of them. A rusty sign that read "Dane's Refuge" hung above the door and there were humans crowded around the place. More desperate refugees, Aeducan thought, sadly.

"Those men are brutes." A bystander outside was commenting. Tabris gave Aeducan a look and they moved in unison towards the two men speaking outside.

"I couldn't help but overhear," asked Aeducan. "but you mentioned brutes?"

"Yeah," one of the men said gruffly. "Them king's soldier types. Said they was Loghain's men and have been roughing people up. Said they was searching for Grey Wardens."

Alistair made an angry growl and Tabris put a hand on his arm to keep him silent, and his mouth snapped shut, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.

 "Grey Wardens?" Aeducan asked innocently.

The other man replied this time. "They was at Ostagar! They betrayed King Cailan is what Loghain's been saying. That's why we lost the battle."

"I hope they find them then," his friend said. "At least someone'll be responsible then."

"Hey, maybe if we find them, we can collect that reward and become lords or some what!" the first man said with a laugh.

"I'd like to be a lord."

"We should keep an eye out for those Wardens too." Aeducan said.

Tabris nodded. "Of course, we'll let you know if we find them." They moved away from the men who had begun to ignore the elf and dwarf- typical humans.

"I can't believe -" Alistair began. 

"I can." Aeducan interrupted, giving Alistair a look that said _keep your voice down_. "If he's cowardly enough to abandon the battle, of course he is going to blame the loss on someone who knows the truth. He's a smart man."

"Can't wait to kill him." Tabris said.

"One thing at a time," Aeducan responded. "First, we deal with these soldiers."

***

Aeducan opened the door, Tabris close behind her, followed by Alistair and Morrigan. "Well," A large burly man in the middle of the room said as he noticed them entering the tavern. "Look what we have here, men. I think we've just been blessed."

Aeducan and Tabris merely exchanged a look, the group readying their weapons.

"Didn't we spend all morning asking about a dwarf and elf by this very description?" The burly's man companion asked him, raising a speculative eyebrow. "And everyone said they hadn't seen them?"

"It seems we were lied to." The other guard replied, narrowing his eyes, hands falling to the blades that rested at his side. The rest of the tavern seemed to have ground to a halt, pausing their business to watch the proceedings. Aeducan wondered whether they would have to make the first move, when a voice interrupted the quiet.

"Gentlemen," Aeducan turned to see a beautiful woman approach with hair more red than fire, dressed in chantry robes with a firm, but gentle manner about her "surely, there's no need for trouble. These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge." The red haired beauty continued, her melodic voice seeming out of place in a situation like this.

Unfortunately, the gorgeous rogue was not enough to turn Loghain's men who were apparently convinced of the Grey Warden's treachery and Aeducan sighed as, after a few moments of conversation, the men reared for a fight.

***

Sereda grabbed Tabris' arm to stop her. "Don't kill him."

"Why ever not, short shem?" Tabris griped. "He was just about to do us in the same."

"I know," Sereda said patiently. "But what message is killing this soldier going to send other than confirming Loghain's lies?" Tabris gave her a look and Sereda pressed on. "We need to send him back with a message."

"To Loghain?" Tabris asked.

"Of course," Sereda said. "Warn him, tell him that the Grey Wardens know the truth of his treachery and we will hold him accountable."

Tabris took a moment of thought, before giving in to the idea and turning to the cowering soldier on the floor. "You got that, shem?" she asked, not moving the knife from where it rested on his neck.

"I'll tell him!" the man shouted. "Right away, now, thank you." picking up his fallen armor and weapons, the man quickly fled. Sereda looked at the bodies scattered on the tavern floor and sighed.

"I guess we should assist in clean up?" she asked Tabris who nodded.

Suddenly the red headed chantry sister spoke. "I apologize for interfering," she said, stepping in front of the group. "But I couldn't just stand by and not help." her eyes twinkled with mischief in a way that made Sereda feel warm.

"Where does a sister learn to fight like that?" Sereda asked, her tone light and teasing.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Leliana, one of the laysisters of the chantry here in Lothering. Or I was." she bowed her head in greeting.

Sereda smiled. "I am Sereda. It's a pleasure." she said as Tabris said "Was? What is that supposed to mean?"

Leliana laughed. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Sereda. And," she turned to address Tabris now. "I joined the Chantry to live a life of religious contemplation but I am not a priest, not even an initiate." she turned to look at the rest of the group and Sereda noticed a sharpness in her eyes that was easily hidden by her easygoing Chantry sister persona. "Those men said you were Grey Warden. You will be battling the darkspawn, yes?"

Alistair opened his mouth and Tabris unceremoniously stepped on his foot. "Those men were sadly mistaken," she said. "We aren't Grey Warden, merely more soldiers seeking refuge like you said."

Leliana smiled. "So, I must have been hearing voices when I heard you telling that man to report back to Loghain that the Grey Warden knew the truth?"

Sereda snorted and Tabris sighed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"I know after what happened, you will need all the help you can get." Leliana said, sounding firm and confident in her assessment. "That's why I'll be coming along."

"What?" Morrigan hissed but was interrupted by Sereda.

"I'm very sorry, Sister, but we could not possibly accept your help." she replied. Tabris hummed speculatively.

"Why so eager to join us?" Tabris asked.

Leliana paused suspiciously before saying "The Maker told me to."

There was a silence from the group. "Astonishing." Morrigan said sarcastically.

"Can you... elaborate?" Tabris asked.

Leliana frowned. "I know that sounds completely insane, but its _true_! I had a dream, a vision. It showed  me you two."

"More crazy?" said Alistair, rolling his eyes. "I thought we were all full up."

"I don't understand." Sereda said. "I've heard of the Maker but I thought he was some sort of human ancestor." she frowned. "Is he actually a human paragon, then?"

Leliana looked confused. "I don't think those definitions quite line up." she said. "The Maker is not human, he is larger than human existence."

Sereda paused. "So... like an archdemon?"

Leliana looked appalled. "Look, I'll read you the chant of light later, short shem. I don't think this is the time." Tabris said.

Leliana seemed to gather herself. "I would like to join you anyway. I believe this is what I'm destined to do."

"Well, that's very noble but -" Sereda started to say before Tabris quickly grabbed her shoulder.

"Aeducan, a _word_." she said, pulling the dwarf to the side.

"What?" Sereda asked, genuinely confused because she believed Tabris would be the one to agree with her on this point.

"I know it seems oddly convenient and hard to trust -" Tabris began.

"That's _one_ way to put it." Sereda replied.

"But we need all the help we can get." Tabris said very slowly. "And this one seems to have been sent from the Gods."  Sereda scoffed. " _And_ , did you see how good she is with a crossbow? We need more ranged attackers." Sereda stared at her blankly, trying to not think about how all her points made sense. "Shorty, use _your brain_. I know you have weird trust issues, but we brought Morrigan along! How is this more suspicious than that?"

Tabris stared at Sereda imploringly. The dwarf groaned and the elf pumped her fist in success, dragging the two of them back to where their group was standing. Leliana seemed to have become acquainted with their dog, who was currently rubbing his head against her hand joyfully. Tabris raised her eyebrows at Sereda as if to say 'See!' and Sereda merely rolled her eyes in response.

"Sister," Sereda began. "I want you to think over what joining us would mean. It's a very dangerous life, facing not only darkspawn but the men Loghain is going to send after us."

Leliana laughed. "Believe me, I am well used to danger."

"Then, welcome to the crew." Tabris said.

Morrigan groaned. "You must have cracked your head worse than Mother thought."

"Thank you," Leliana smiled. "I appreciate being given this chance. I will not let you down."

***

Leliana walked ahead with Aeducan who had spent the last hour pleasantly chattering with the Chantry sister.

"Is it just me," Alistair said looking at Tabris. "Or is Aeducan being actually _nice_ to her?"

"It is not just you." Tabris replied with a large grin. "Our dwarven Lady does seem quite taken, doesn't she?"

"You don't think?" Alistair asked.

"Oh, I do think." Tabris' grin broadened. "I am _never_ going to let this go."

Suddenly a giggle sounded from the pair walking in front of them and Alistair looked up sharply. "Did... did Aeducan just... giggle?" He wondered if it was possibly for eyes to bug out so hard that they would fall out of his skull. "She's never said a kind word to me besides nodding when I kill a darkspawn, and the new girl gets a _giggle_?"

"And now she's blushing." Tabris replied.

"You're never going to let this go."

"Nope."

"Please," Morrigan said as she approached behind them. "It's not as if she doesn't have equal ammunition about you and Alistair flirting and fluttering around each other like indecisive hummingbirds."

Morrigan moved ahead, leaving the pair sputtering and blushing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ' "Can't wait to kill him." Tabris said. ' is definitely one of my favorite lines I've written for this series.


	6. In Which Women and Qunari are Not to be Underestimated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the good Sister Leliana has joined the party, our reluctant leaders must rustle up some coin, and possibly pick up a Qunari on the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah it's been ages I'm sorry!!! In my defence college has been keeping me busy and I lost my original playthrough. Watching walk throughs is not quite the same. Anyway, hopefully the delay was worth it! -Styx

Lothering was full of humans. It wasn’t really surprising but Tabris would have felt a bit more at ease to see at least _one_ other elf in the little town. But trudging through the sea of worry-ridden refugees, there wasn’t a single other race to be seen. Asking for a dwarf would be a little much, for sure, but even the smallest town had an alienage.

“Figures.” muttered Tabris under her breath, steadfastly ignoring the suspicious looks their little party was receiving.

“What is it now, pointy?” asked Aeducan with a long suffering sigh.

Tabris jumped, unaware that she’d spoken aloud. She scowled at being caught out. “Figures there are only humans around. The bandits probably went for the alienage first, and no Shem is going to risk their life for a knife-ear.” she spat bitterly.

Aeducan made a little sound of understanding in the back of her throat. Alistair and Leliana, close enough to eavesdrop, looked distinctly uncomfortable. Aeducan ignored them, instead she bumped Tabris’ arm companionably.

“Humans.” She said, her tone expressing more than the most eloquent speech could have.

“Humans.” Agreed Tabris.

Alistair made an indignant sound behind them which transformed into a grunt of pain when Leliana stepped on his foot. Aeducan beamed at her. Alistair shuddered.

***

“First things first,” said Aeducan, taking a generous sip from her tankard “we’re going to need some funds before we leave this town.”

They had, after much bickering during which Morrigan had thrice threatened to turn Alistair into something unpleasant and Tabris had threatened to skewer them both at once, decided that a discreet return to the Tavern would be the best course of action. The barkeep, more grateful than suspicious, pretended not to recognize the three Grey Wardens who had unceremoniously kicked out the king's soldiers, and they were allowed to claim a small table at the back for themselves, Dog flopping heavily down by their feet. A quick check of their resources found the small party greatly lacking in coin. The small pile of silver and copper, the latter outnumbering the former, lay on the table in front of them, their solitary sovereign having gone to the barkeep to pay for their ale and his continued discretion. Tabri maintained that it was enough to continue on their way if they spent it wisely, but the low amount made Sereda's stomach churn in worry, so she had insisted.

“I suppose we could split up.” suggested Morrigan indifferently.

Aeducan hummed thoughtfully, before glancing at Tabris. The elf had a contemplative look on her face as she absentmindedly reached down to scratch Dog behind the ears. Sereda raised an eyebrow at her. She responded to the unspoken question.

“Makes sense. We’d cover more ground and attract less attention that way.”

“Then it’s settled.” Aeducan gestured at a map they had liberated from the bandits that had until recently “guarded” the entry to the town. “Pointy, Alistair and I will handle this part of the town, Leliana and Morrigan cover these parts. Oh and take Dog with you.”

Morrigan looked disgusted. Aeducan couldn’t decide whether it was due more to being paired with Leliana or with Dog. Probably both.

“Shouldn’t they have a Warden with them?” asked Alistair with worry, shooting Morrigan a suspicious glance.

Morrigan smirked, conjuring the smallest of flames in her palm for just an instant, and Leliana shot him an innocent smile, belied by the casual way she shouldered her bow. Dog panted happily from his position under the table before tearing into the meat the barkeep had graciously provided him.

“Never mind.”

***

They might have ignored the child if he hadn’t been crying so piteously.  Tabris detoured from her path with purpose.

“Do we really have time for this?” asked Alistair, trying to ignore a distinct feeling of déjà vu.

“Yes.” Tabris didn’t even glance in his direction. She barely registered Aeducan echoing her statement as she knelt in front of the child, offering him a handkerchief. It was slightly yellowed with age and smelled lightly of lavender, and it was the one luxury Sylvia afforded herself. After all, her mother always said, a girl should always carry her handkerchief, her knives, and her pride.

The child’s eyes were red from crying, great bubbles of mucus erupting from his nose. He glanced at the inoffensive piece of cloth and blew his nose noisily. He looked at Tabris with wide, shocked eyes, and she felt her throat close up, because standing in front of her wasn’t a frightened shemlin child, but Shiani, lost and alone after the death of her parents. She shook her head, dispelling that particular phantom.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, voice hoarse. She could practically feel Aeducan and Alistair hover worriedly behind her, but it didn’t matter just now.

“I can’t find my mother!” sobbed the child, his fear of being alone overcoming his fear of facing an elf. Tabris’ heart constricted, her words of comfort dying in her throat.

“I’ll find her” she found herself saying. Aeducan made a noise of disagreement behind her, and she hastily amended “or at least I’ll try. Until then, I need you to do me a favour.”

The boy sniffled at her warily. Tabris sighed.

“I want you to go to the chantry.”

The boy’s lip wobbled, and Tabris steeled herself for more wailing. Alistair chose that moment to step in.

“It would be a huge help if you did.” he said entreatingly.

Tabris took the lead and ran with it. “Your mother wants you to be safe over anything else.” she said, managing, by some miracle, to speak steadily.

The boy seemed to consider, before blurting out “okay!”

Tabris breathed a sigh of relief, but he wasn’t finished.

“Father said not to trust elves because they were liars and mean, but you’re not mean!” he said, before sniffling and running in the direction of the chantry. Tabris stared after him mouth agape.

“Humans.” she said, awed.

“Humans.” agreed Aeducan, in similar tones.

Alistair couldn’t help his self-satisfied smirk.

***

Aeducan used to think that her father’s guards were the most stoic individuals in all of Thedas. That was before she found herself staring down the Qunari.

“How did you know he was a Qunari?” she asked, not turning from the man in the cage.

“I’m not sure, but possibly it was because he was reciting the Qun.” Leliana replied. Aeducan thought she heard Morrigan snort, but she wasn’t sure.

“Alright then.” She addressed the Qunari for the first time, stepping forward. Before she could get a single word out, he spoke.

“You are not one of my captors. I will not amuse you anymore than I did them. Leave me in peace.”

Aeducan raised an eyebrow, apparently he was not one to mince words. “You’re a prisoner.” She said dryly “who put you here?”

“I’ve been placed here by the chantry.” he replied, crossing his arms. Aeducan would say he was petulant, if Qunari could be petulant.

“The revered mother said he slaughtered an entire family. Even the children.” interjected Leliana softly. Aeducan saw Tabris tense out of the corner of her eye and bit back a sigh, this could be a problem later.

“It is as she said.” said the Qunari, showing no sign of remorse “I am Sten of the Beresaad, vanguard of the Qunari peoples.”

“Do you feel guilty?” blurted Tabris. The elf was particularly jumpy when it came to family, and more so now, after they had discovered the body of the young boy’s mother. She had almost refused the chantry’s reward, and it had taken some convincing on Aeducan’s part to get her to reconsider. Sten turned to face her, as though noticing her for the first time.

“Are you asking if I feel guilt or if I’m responsible for the deed? Nevertheless, however I feel, whatever I’ve done, my life is forfeit now.” he said with an air of finality.

“How long have you been here?” asked Aeducan, steering the conversation back on track.

“Twenty days now, I shouldn’t last much longer. Another week at most.”

“Aren’t you interested in seeking atonement?”

“Death will be my atonement”

“So you would prefer to die?” Aeducan had no explanation for the sudden surge of anger she felt at his words, and no excuse for the bitterness with which she spoke hers.

“I would prefer to die in battle. But my choices have been made.”

Aeducan stared at him for a long moment. “You could help us defend against the blight.” she said. Tabris hissed at her side. “Aeducan. A. Word.”

Aeducan let her pull her away. Sten made no comment at her abrupt departure.

“I want you think, short shem, and I mean, really _think_ , about what you’re doing.” said Tabris in a low, urgent tone.

“I want to keep him.” replied Aeducan resolutely.

“Andraste’s garterbelt, munchkin! He is not a pet!”

“Not as a pet you dolt, I’m serious! He’s honest and straight forward. We could use that on the team, to counteract Morrigan.”

Tabris rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to counter, but Sereda raised a hand to stop her. “He’s also incredibly strong. Twenty days with no food and water and still standing. Still able to swing a sword by the looks of it. You can’t tell me we don’t need that kind of strength. It would definitely be better than continuously throwing Alistair at the pointy end of every sword we come across.” she said the last part in a wheedling tone, and took vindictive pleasure in the way Tabris visibly fought her blush.

“He’s literally a murder. He could literally kill us all.” was her spluttered response.

“I’ve been travelling with a murder since day one haven’t I?”

Tabris had the grace to look a little sheepish, but it didn’t stop her from glowering at Aeducan.

“That was different.”

“How do you know?”

“I-”

Aeducan looked at her expectantly, and the elf visibly deflated. Aeducan felt a stab of pity and continued cheerfully. “Besides, it’s not like any of us haven’t killed people either. Except maybe Leliana”

Tabris scoffed. “Have you seen the way she handles that bow of hers? Not likely!”

Aeducan grinned. “Hey now, don’t impugn the honor of the good sister!”

“Of course not, I’ll leave that to you.” Replied Tabris smirking, and expertly dodged the kick aimed at her shin.

“Shut up,” said Aeducan, acutely aware of the crimson blush heating her face “it’s not like that.”

“Of course it isn’t.” said Tabris knowingly.

“It _isn’t_.”

“Okay.”

“Stop winking at me!”

“Nope.”

“Well then, can we keep the Qunari?”

“… If he kills us all in our sleep, I will find you in the after-life just to say I told you so. Loudly and obnoxiously.”

***

“So any ideas how to get Sten out of the cage?" asked Tabris to the group at large.

“I suppose I could melt it.” said Morrigan, looking at the iron bars speculatively.

“And bring the Templars down on us all? Are you mad?” asked Alistair incredulously.

“Mmm… melting is probably not the best idea.” agreed Aeducan

“We could speak to the Revered Mother.” suggested Leliana “She might be able to give us some insight.”

“Alright then, Alistair and Tabris, you two go speak to the Revered Mother, while the rest of us see if there are any other ways to make some coin. I have a feeling we should leave this town as soon as possible.” said Aeducan. Tabris raised an eyebrow, so she felt compelled to add “I’d go myself, but I have no idea how to speak about these human paragons.”

“I don’t even know where to begin with that statement.” said Tabris exasperatedly, before turning to Alistair and gesturing him to follow. He shook his head.

“It’s better if I don’t. Revered Mothers tend to find me incorrigible.” he said apologetically.

“I can see why.” said Tabris archly “Well then Sister, I guess it’s you and me.”

“I won’t be a Sister for much longer. I suppose I should inform the Revered Mother of my intent to leave the chantry as well.” said Leliana, before following Tabris’ lead.

The two women walked to chantry in relative silence. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going through Leliana’s head, but she herself was trying to decide the best way to broach the topic with the Revered Mother. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to be so willing to let go of a murderer.

It turns out, she was right. The Revered Mother was a woman with a gentle and wise aura, so it was almost surprising how agitated she became at the mere mention of Sten.

“Perhaps it would have been kinder to kill him, but I leave his fate to the Maker.” she said pacing the dais. “Why does he interest you?” she asked, turning to Tabris.

Tabris swallowed nervously. “What did he do?” she asked, feigning ignorance.

“He butchered an entire family. Only the youngest hid long enough to survive. He said his father found the Qunari wounded and took him in. He repaid that kindness with slaughter. The townsmen found him just standing among the carnage. He offered no resistance.”

Tabris tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. Aeducan had better be right about him, or their entire party was going to regret this. She made her eyes deceptively wide, telling herself that it was for the good of the team. “How do you know it was him?” she asked innocently.

“He confessed quite readily but would offer no explanation for his actions. Even the seasoned knights who apprehended him were disturbed by the carnage. However docile he might seem, do not be fooled. That Qunari is a danger.”

“And what if it causes an incident with his people?”

“The Maker demands justice.” Said the Revered Mother her voice taking on a steely quality “regardless of his race.”

“We may have some use of him, you know.” said Tabris testing the waters.

“Then his next victims would count you and me among their murderers.”

“I was hoping,” said Tabris forging ahead “that you would release him into my custody.”

The Revered Mother stared at her for a moment, before turning her attention to Leliana. “And what do you have to say about this Leliana? You know your friend better than I.”

Leliana squared her shoulders. “These are unusual times, your Reverence. With us, the Qunari might do some good.”

The Revered Mother shook her head. “Were things not so desperate…” she sighed “very well, I trust you. Take these keys to his cage and Maker watch over you.” she said, extracting the keys from her robes and passing them to Leliana.

“Thank you, your Reverence.” she said with a smile.

“Nice work, Sister.” murmured Tabris as they left the chantry.

Leliana grinned at her. “I hardly think I’m a Sister anymore, Tabris. I believe I have found my calling once again.” she said before striding off towards the cage, leaving Tabris to ponder that statement as she trailed behind her.


	7. In Which No One Throws A Templar Into The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wardens start their journey to collect support using Grey Warden Treaties and are met with skepticism from certain templars guarding certain docks near certain Circle Towers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "And I'm the Queen of Antiva!" shut UP Carroll -R

Sereda would have said I told you so, but it would be a waste of breath.  She knew it wasn’t going to be easy to leave Lothering after they broke Sten out of his cage, no matter how much Tabris insisted that using a completely legally acquired key was _not_ breaking someone out. Sure enough they met a resistance from a group of refugees as they tried to leave the town and it all went downhill from there. The bandits waiting at the city limits were almost expected at this point. Aeducan had to admit though, the dwarves were a bit unexpected. “I honestly think we did less fighting in Ostagar.” She groused, as she sliced through what was possibly the 15th bandit they’d run into.

“To be fair, we didn’t have a bounty on our heads in Ostagar” replied Tabris reasonably as she stabbed the one trying to sneak up on Leliana, who was firing arrows with deadly accuracy.

“Or you know, maybe putting the three of us together just attracts bad luck?” offered Alistair, using his shield to stun the bandit leader so that Sten could take a crack at him. Dog barked in agreement from Morrigan’s side. Aeducan rolled her eyes.

***

The Dwarves were Bodhan and Sandal, travelling merchants. Tabris got a shrewd look in her eye when they asked to travel with their motley crew, but they seemed to change their minds when she let slip that they were Grey Wardens, and the two parties went their separate ways.

“Why so disappointed, pointy? Am I not Dwarf enough for you?” Sereda asked, pouting and fluttering her eyelashes, mimicking the noble hunters she’d seen hounding her brothers.

Tabris looked vaguely disgusted “Please never make that face again.” She said, and if Sereda didn’t know any better, she’d say she was begging. She grinned instead.

“Why so disappointed?” she asked again.

“Merchants on the road would have meant more supplies for us. I’m tired of asking Morrigan for health poultices. She’s gets all smug. It’s annoying.”

“You have a point, but-“

Alistair jogged up to them grinning widely. “I think Leliana is flirting with Morrigan, and it’s making her uncomfortable!” he said gleefully.

Aeducan choked and Tabris snorted.

“Wait, someone managed to make _Morrigan_ uncomfortable?” asked Tabris, completely ignoring the real prob- iss- _point_.

“ _Flirting?!?_ ” Sereda exclaimed in a perfectly reasonable and not at all squeaky voice.

“Well….” Said Alistair slowly “well she started off talking about what kind of clothes Morrigan’d look good in, and then her voice got kind of dreamy. Also there was definitely some ogling.”

Sereda definitely did _not_ yelp at that, and if Tabris didn’t stop laughing she was going to find out just exactly where those knives of hers could fit.

“Looks like she could use… a distraction” said Alistair, smirking. Damn him.

“I’m going to go rescue Morrigan.” she said with as much dignity as she could muster after all that not-squeaking and not-yelping.

“Right.” said Alistair knowingly. Tabris had either suddenly come down with a plague or was trying to smother her laughter. Aeducan hoped bitterly that it was the first.

“I hate both of you!” she yelled over her shoulder as she went to firmly position herself between Leliana and Morrigan. Tabris didn’t even bother to hide her laughter this time.

***

Sereda marveled at how quickly everyone had set up in comfortable spots around camp. They had managed to avoid any more encounters with Loghain's men and were camped on the outskirts of the town. With Morrigan's cooperation, they had set up magical alert spells all around the camp to help them fend off possible darkspawn attacks.

Of course, their first night at camp couldn’t be uneventful. No, she and Tabris woke up gasping and shaking after dreaming about the sodding Archdemon, a little side-effect of being a Grey Warden that everyone seemed to have forgotten to tell them about. She was getting awfully tired of dealing with dragons. Alistair, who had woken in a decidedly less extreme fashion, told them that they’d get used to the sensation as time wore on, though he had the decency look shamefaced under Tabris’ baleful glare. On the upside, it turned out that while the three wardens had slept, Bodhan and Sandal had joined their camp, having come to the decision that in these dangerous times, it was safer to travel with well-armed fighters, outstanding bounty or no, even offering them a discount on goods in return for shelter. Tabris had been thrilled, immediately stocking up on as many health poultices as she could afford. Aeducan on the other hand had been more interested in Sandal’s enchantments. They looked interesting. And useful.

Now, Sereda, Tabris, and Alistair sat at the campfire in the middle of their camp, the rest of their companions spread out in different directions around them. Dog was flopped between Tabris and Sereda's feet, and was currently attempting to dig through the earth but was not doing the best job.

"We need to figure out where to head first." Alistair said.

"How about Denerim?"Aeducan said and she could see Tabris nod in the corner of her eye.

"Are you insane?" Alistair blurted out. "We haven't collected support from anyone and you want to visit the exact place where all of Loghain's men will be on the look-out?"

"I see it as going straight to the source. Why deal with treaties when we can just kill Loghain right now?" Sereda said.

Alistair looked frustrated and turned to Tabris for support. Tabris frowned. "I mean, maybe you're right Alistair but Aeducan has a point." Alistair huffed.

"What is wrong with you two?" he asked. "We kill Loghain, and we're dead within minutes, I guarantee you. And Queen Anora is just going to step up to take his place!"

Aeducan sighed. "The longer we are out here going on little quests, the more time Loghain has to gather forces and kill us."

"The Grey Warden treaties are not _little quests_!" Alistair looked like he might be about to take up a leadership position for the first time over this argument when Tabris groaned.

"Alistair's right, Aeducan." she said. Sereda raised an eyebrow.

"Why the sudden change in heart, Pointy?"

Tabris rubbed at her forehead with a hand. "We need to gather some type of support before we can go to Denerim safely. I... just wanted an excuse to see my family. But we have to think about all of Ferelden right now."

Sereda sighed again. "Well, where do you think we should head first?"

Tabris made a humming noise. "Religious support is always beneficial, so we could head to the Circle first, see if we can recruit the Templars."

Sereda nodded. "And I think Redcliffe is near there, so we could court support from human nobility as well." Tabris shuddered and Sereda gave her a sympathetic look.

"So the Circle and then the Arl of Redcliffe?" Alistair asked, and Sereda must have imagined his voice squeaking on the word Arl, but she made sure to file that info away.

"Yup." Tabris nodded. "Orzammar is also quite close to that area, we could go there after Redcliffe?"

Sereda groaned, loudly. "Can we not, just yet?" Tabris gave her a curious look. "A family reunion is something I really don't need in my life right now." Tabris snorted.

"All right, Orzammar can wait." Alistair said. "We can decide the rest later, depending on our success."

"Good idea." said Tabris. There was a long silence before Tabris said "Are you sure there's no way we can quickly stop by Denerim?"

Sereda had never heard Tabris sound so longing. "No, you and Alistair are right. It's reckless and dangerous. I'm sorry, pointy."

"No, it's fine." Tabris got up and headed off towards where her tent was. Dog looked up as she left and quickly got up and followed. Alistair stared after her, seeming uncertain.

Sereda made an annoyed sound. "Go after her, idiot." Alistair scowled at her before getting up to follow Tabris as well.

"It's reckless and dangerous." Sereda repeated resolutely to herself.

***

"So, Sten, tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything. Why you came here, why you were knocked out, why you murdered an entire family, for example."

"Ah, and this would greatly affect our ability to deal with a blight?"

"Well, probably not."

"Then, I suggest you stop asking inane questions."

Sylvia snickered and Aeducan turned around to glare at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"You sounded so much like Alistair right then, short shem."

Aeducan looked appalled.

***

"How far is this Circle anyway?" Tabris groaned.

"Tired already, Ears?" Aeducan smirked at her.

"No, I was just concerned for you, Shorty. Your legs must be getting tired, working twice as hard as us."

"It's happening again." Alistair said, hopelessly. Leliana merely rolled her eyes and moved forward to intercept the brewing fight between their two leaders.

***

"Wait, Tabris, what do we do if we arrive at the Circle and Loghain's men have already got to them and it's a trap?" Aeducan asked suddenly.

"Uh," Tabris replied.

Aeducan merely raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Tabris said.

"Reassuring."

"We could aim Sten at them and run?"

Aeducan snorted.

"I would remind you, elf, that I am actually within hearing distance." Sten said, in the same monotone voice.

"Are you saying you wouldn't win?" Tabris asked.

"No," said Sten. "Of course I would win."

Aeducan smiled. "I _knew_ I liked him."

"Great. The murderer has confidence in his killing ability. Let's throw a party!" Alistair deadpanned.

***

When they finally arrived at the Decks of Lake Calenhad, Sereda felt wiped out. They had travelled for a few days at least, encountering a set of bandits in the middle that had caused quite a bit of annoying trouble. The battle also managed to deplete them of most of their healing poultices, even if they had been able to get money from the unconscious bandits afterwards.

Sereda had _known_ they should have bought more healing poultices. Not that she was going to whine. But she _had_ told them so. They were lucky they had Bodhan to fall back on, because honestly, they had gone through Tabris’ entire stock.

"This place is strangely beautiful." Tabris whispered, almost as if to herself.

"It seems so empty." Leliana said, and Sereda tried not to focus on the image of Leliana bathed in moonlight because there wasn't a proper way of dealing with those emotions right now.

Morrigan laughed. "Perhaps the stench of so many cowardly mages sent all the other people here running." Tabris gave her a reproachful look. "What?" Morrigan said. "I told you I despised them."

Sereda looked over at Sten who had been... well, not strangely silent, since he was usually silent, but had been silent in a strange way. The qunari was staring at the area around them with a troubled expression on his face, as if remembering something very important.

"Is something wrong, Sten?" she asked.

The qunari turned to her, face back to being impassive as always. "It is nothing. I was momentarily distracted."

Sereda paused and stared at him. Sten didn't seem to like being bothered with needless questions, but she was extremely curious about what could rattle him enough to show even the slightest shift in emotion. "Distracted by... the air?"

"No, but as I said, it is nothing."

"Nothing as in you don't have an answer, or nothing as in it is nothing you wish to speak to me about."

"Would it please you if I said both?" said Sten. The answer was so cheeky that Sereda was almost beginning to review her opinion about the qunari's sense of humor. He was stoic but he was definitely messing with her.

"I think it would please you if you said both." Sereda replied. "Saved by a nice, nondescript answer." Sten was silent. "It was exactly the sort of answer I give when I talk about my exile from Orzammar."

Sten smiled, or at least seemed to do the closest thing to the shadow of a smile that the dwarf had ever seen on his face. A smile's second cousin, once removed, but Sereda thought she might be getting better at picking out the different expressions. "Perhaps you are not as callow as I once assumed. That is... surprising."

Sereda gave him an actual smile in return. "I grew up on dwarven politics. Your emotionless front is something I've faced down countless times."

Sten nodded, and Sereda could almost see that as a grudging sign of acceptance.

Then again, that could have been what the murdered family had thought, but she was used to being uncertain about people.

***

Sylvia had been arguing with the templar at the docks for approximately 7 minutes and 43 seconds now. She knew that because every single second felt excruciatingly long. And Aeducan's snickering in the background was not helping.

"And I don't believe your Grey Warden papers are real, so we're right back where we started!" Templar Carroll replied and Tabris threw her hands up in frustration.

Sylvia could see Alistair in the corner of her eye, his shoulders shaking in an effort not to start laughing. She thought about various ways she was going to get back at both him and Aeducan for this. Oh, Tabris, you take this one, they said. It will be fine, they said.

"Shorty, I am approximately 33 seconds away from stabbing him in the neck, can you _please_ take over?" Templar Carroll paled at the threat she noticed, but didn't seem to change his mind.

Aeducan rolled her eyes. "Is there any way we can work out a deal?" the dwarf asked, stepping forward.

"Hmm, I take my job quite seriously," Carroll said and Tabris fought the urge to just push him off the dock already. "But I am feeling a bit peckish."

Aeducan stopped. "You want us... to feed you?" Sylvia noticed her hand had paused halfway from the satchel of coins tied to her belt.

"Pashera! Here, munch on these if you like." Alistair jumped, but if anyone else was startled by Sten speaking up, they didn't show it. Aeducan looked strangely fascinated and Sylvia was once again slightly concerned by her lack of self-preservation when it came to the qunari.

"Oh, cookies!" Carroll cried out, happily.

"I am content to part with them if it saves us from this fool." Sten said and although Sylvia thought he might kill them all in their sleep someday, she had never felt this much appreciation for a member of their party until now.

"Where did you get those?" Morrigan asked, staring at Sten with something almost like awe. Tabris was struck by the sudden fear of what these two could accomplish if they put their efforts together.

"There was a child in the last village we passed, a fat, slovenly thing." Sten said disdainfully. "I relieved him of these. He didn't need any more."

Alistair burst out laughing while Tabris struggled to keep a straight face. She turned back to Templar Carroll. "So, can we go across?"

"You scratch my back, I scratch yours, right?" Carroll said. "We can go across now, sure!"

Sylvia nearly did push him into the lake anyway as they were climbing into the boat, and was stopped only by Alistair pulling her back at the last second.

"We might need him to row us back across afterwards." he whispered to her.

Sylvia snickered.

***

Sereda listened carefully as Gregoir explained the Circle's predicament and when he had finished, she turned to Tabris. "Is it just me, Pointy, or does it seem like we keep having to do favors for other favors?" she asked.

"No, not just you. Is the Blight even really worth it?" Tabris replied.

"We could be killed by Loghain at any second too, it might not even work."

"Gee, aren't you two optimistic?" Alistair said.

Sereda turned back to Gregoir. "If we manage to get the tower under control, you will help us with the treaties, then?"

"If you manage to do it," Gregoir said and Sereda really despised the emphasis on the ‘ _if’_. "The templars will be willing and ready to give you whatever forces you need in the coming blight."

Sereda sighed. "Then, I suppose we're going in there."

"I cannot believe the members of this circle are so sheltered and yet don't have the common sense not to make deals with demons." Morrigan said, annoyed. "The entire point of this institution is to prevent that."

"Or it’s to imprison mages against their will." Tabris said, bitterly, seeing the close parallels between the state of the alienage and the way these templars treated corrupt mages like animals to be neutralized.

"Many mages do volunteer to join the Circle, though." Alistair said.

Tabris rolled her eyes. "Volunteer is a very unusual word to describe someone who has little other choice because it would be against the law to run from the Circle."

Alistair winced.

Sereda marched towards the templar standing at the door to the towers who gave her a slow nod. "Once you go in, we cannot let you out unless you declare the tower is safe." Sereda nodded.

"Ready?" she asked the group behind her.

"Ready." Tabris answered for them. "Let's kill some demons."

"You sound like you've waited a long time to say something dramatic like that." Aeducan said Tabris as they walked through the doors with the others trailing behind.

"Yeah, I have."

"Was it as good as you'd hoped?"

"Eh, bit underwhelming."

The templar shut the door behind them with a resounding _thud_. 


	8. Thoughts Among the Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our intrepid heroes are highly disturbed by the Circle tower, and things generally take a turn for the worse.

Sylvia hated the phrase “the silence was deafening”. She’d never understood it. The alienage didn’t have room for silences that weren’t warm and contented. Other things, the horrors that waited outside the alienage walls, which sometimes seeped into the life they’d fought tooth and nail to carve out for themselves, were dealt with angry muttering, never silence. They couldn’t afford it. The silence in the circle tower was deafening. Sylvia hated it from the depths of her soul. Their footsteps echoed eerily in the empty corridors and she found herself wishing they hadn’t had to leave Dog behind to guard the camp. She missed the reassuring sound of his panting.

“Is anyone else expecting something dangerous to pop out at us?” asked Alistair while they investigated their second deserted dorm room.

 “Thank you for that Alistair, I really needed to be thinking about that now.” ground out Aeducan, and Sylvia was gratified to see her tighten her grip around her sword.

“Well you have to admit, it seems very likely.”

“Shut up Alistair.” said Morrigan, sounding bored. Sylvia couldn’t tell if it was an act but she wouldn’t be surprised if Morrigan just wasn’t frightened of anything.

Alistair began to mutter something that sounded like the Chant of Light, and Leliana looked like she wanted to join in. Even Sten looked discomfited. Sylvia exchanged a look with Aeducan and they quickened their pace, heading for the door at the end of the corridor.

***

Wynne was beginning to get tired. The tower had been in lockdown for ages now, almost as soon as the troubles had started. They hadn’t had a chance to evacuate anyone, not even the children. Wynne stood tall, the last line of defence between the demons and the young apprentices under her care. She didn’t know how much longer she would last though. She’d already taken a solid hit, and she knew that by all accounts she shouldn’t be standing right now, let alone fighting demons. It was the frightened whimpers of the children that kept her going, and standing strong. She glanced at Petra and Kinnon on either side of her, facing the erected barrier with a determination she was sure was mirrored on her own face. When the rage demon spawned, she was ready, destroying it with one powerful blast. It was only then she heard the footsteps behind and whirled to face the doorway, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She paled when she saw the grey wardens. She had seen them in passing at Ostagar, though they had never spoken. If Greagoir was sending Wardens in after them, he must be convinced there was no hope. He was resigning them all to a fate worse than death. She stepped in front of the children and took up a defensive pose. If these Wardens were here to cleanse the tower, they were going to do it over her dead body.

***

Aeducan refused to admit that Alistair’s whining was getting to her. And she definitely refused to admit that she too was expecting something to pop out of every shadow. When she and Tabris had reached the door at the end of the corridor, they took a moment to physically steel themselves before pushing open the heavy entrance. That did not exactly prepare them to see a woman old enough to be her grandmother (or maybe her mother? It was harder to tell with humans) completely _decimate_ a glowing demon. Aeducan _would_ admit she was a little impressed. Just a little.

***

Morrigan was not impressed. First of all, everything about this situation stank of weakness and lethargy. What self-respecting mage _allowed_ themselves to be imprisoned in such a way? These people were trained to see only the dangers of their gifts, which guaranteed that when they were awakened to the unadulterated _power_ it gave them, they would be lead down the path of foolishness. Flemeth, for all her faults, had taught her more about how to successfully and safely wield her powers better than any of the books that littered the circle tower. Then, there was the moralizing school mistress that now blocked their path. How could anyone trapped by such an institution want to preserve it with such determination? And the woman was insistent that she was to accompany them on this mission, which led to their current problem.

“Morrigan you’ll need to stay behind.” Aeducan said over her shoulder “We need to keep the group as small as possible.”

“You must be joking.” replied Morrigan disbelievingly “Why must I be the one to stay behind? Why not Alistair? Or the Qunari?” Aeducan opened her mouth to respond, but Morrigan wasn’t finished quite yet. “Do you not think that my skills will come in handy in a _magical_ tower where we will be fighting _magical_ enemies?”

“Like I said, we need to keep the party as small as possible.” repeated Aeducan with sigh, as though _Morrigan_ were the one being unreasonable, honestly. “Besides someone needs to hold the fort here, and you’re far more qualified than Alistair or Sten for that.”

Morrigan made a non-committal noise, opting not to show how much she agreed with that statement. She surveyed her charges. Two older apprentices who seemed competent enough. A raving lunatic, who she might turn into a rat, if only for some peace and quiet. A gaggle of wide-eyed children. The bravest of this last group piped up.

“What circle are you from?”

His friend elbowed him roughly “Look at her clothes, she’s not from a circle!”

The children’s eyes grew wider. “You’re an apostate?” asked a girl in a half-whisper.

“Yes.” Morrigan replied shortly.

“Cool! What’s it like?”

Morrigan could feel a slow grin spread across her face. This might not be so bad actually. She swore she could hear Tabris groan behind her.

“We’re going to regret this, shorty, I promise you.”

***

Alistair thought Sylvia was amazing. He was probably more obvious about it than Aeducan was about Leliana, though he tried to keep it subtle. Sylvia was beautiful and funny and fierce, and generally wonderful. Sylvia also had to touch _everything_ , which more often than not, got them into trouble. Like when she found a phylactery behind a broken statue, and decided the best thing to do with a strange bottle full of blood was to _pick it up_. Now Alistair liked to think that he was a pretty easy going guy, less “what’s the plan” and more “go with the flow”. Unfortunately going with flow, more often than not, ended with him falling, screaming, down a waterfall. Metaphorically speaking. It had yet to happen literally but he was willing to give it time. Case in point: the Maker forsaken Revenant that was swinging its sword at his head. And only his head.

Wynne had been the first to go down, which was a problem for them, given her talents in healing. There was a moment of panic when they thought she was dead, but Leliana had gotten close enough to shout “Still breathing!” before pulling her out of the way of the battle. After that they began dropping like flies. Aeducan next, followed swiftly by Leliana and even Sten was knocked down after the creature had caught him unawares. Alistair was sure he would be next when he tripped on a piece of loose rubble and lost his balance. Then Sylvia had shot him a grin that spelled trouble, and darted out in front of the Revenant, shouting and slashing wildly, creating enough of a distraction for him to find his footing. He looked up again to see Sylvia go down. And then he saw red.

Wynne was the first to wake up and find him standing in the middle of the room panicking because while he’s sure no one is dead this time, he doesn’t know what to do next. She made him sit down, take deep breaths, and drink a potion she pulled from the pack tied to her waist. While he was calming down, she set about to reviving and healing the others.

“You’re all welcome.” He gasped out between breaths.

Sten snorted and Leliana giggled. Aeducan turned to Sylvia and punched her in the shoulder. Tabris shot her an irritated look, but turned to smile sheepishly at Alistair.

“Thanks, Al.” she said quietly.

Alistair grinned back.

***

“Should we be snooping around the First Enchanter’s quarters?” asked Wynne mildly, though she didn’t sound too bothered by the gross violation of privacy.

“We’re not snooping, we’re looking for clues.” said Tabris calmly.

“Don’t worry,” said Leliana in response to Wynne’s bemused look “you get used to it.”

“Hey, pointy, get a look at this!” called Aeducan from where she’d almost fallen into an old chest.

“Please tell me it’s that Litany thing that mage was talking about.” called Tabris from the other side of the room. Finding this Litany or the man who held it had become top priority for the little group after discovering its existence.

“No, but you may want to look at it anyway.”

Tabris huffed and made her way to Aeducan’s side, looking at the book in hand with a puzzled expression. “What’s Flemeth’s Grimoire doing here?”

“No idea. Do you think Morrigan would want it?”

“Probably.”

“You can’t just _take things_ from the First Enchanter’s quarters!” argued Wynne, scandalized.

“It was her mother’s before it was ever in the First Enchanter’s quarters, so technically we’re just returning it.” wheedled Tabris.

“Plus, it will probably make her less likely to turn us into something unpleasant when we get back.” added Aeducan pragmatically.

“I vote we give it to her.” said Alistair hurriedly. There was a murmur of agreement from Sten and Leliana. Wynne threw up her hands in exasperation.

***

Leliana rolled to the side as the possessed templar took another swing at her. She spun around and stabbed at his side, making him howl in pain and giving Aeducan a chance to take a swing. “Is everyone alright?” she called, distancing herself from the fray so that she could use her bow.

“I hate demons!” shouted Tabris, dancing around the Desire demon in the centre of the room. Both she and Aeducan had been beyond angry that there was no way to release the templar without killing them both. Allowing the demon to have what she wanted simply was not an option.

“Now, that’s just mean.” replied the demon so petulantly that Leliana had to stifle the urge to laugh.

“Shut up!” shouted Tabris, driving a dagger into her back. The demon burst into flames and disappeared, just as Leliana shot the Templar through the heart.

“Well,” she said, putting away her bow “that was depressing.”

“I’ll say.” said Alistair, sheathing his sword. He looked over at the Templar, laying still with his eyes glossy. “Poor sod. Can’t help wondering if this would have been my fate. You know, if I had stayed a templar.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t have been.” said Leliana gently. Alistair looked away from the templar to meet her gaze and she smiled “You could have been fighting darkspawn in Lothering.”

Alistair let out a laugh. “Darkspawn chow or demon fodder eh? Good thing I became a Grey Warden then.” he said before wandering off to ask Aeducan for an injury kit.

Leliana caught Tabris’ eye, and the elf gave her a grateful smile. From what she understood, Alistair was prone to introspection at the worst possible times. She winked at her, and moved to join Aeducan who, despite being covered in viscera and blood, was grinning at her with something like admiration that made her chest tighten and her cheeks grow warm.

***

 Sten despised this place. It was imbued with magic and the danger born from it. This was why mages were treated as they were in Seheron. This was anarchy, chaos. It was unacceptable. His thoughts, as they traversed the tower, wandered occasionally to his home, to his sword, possibly still lying on the shores of the lake they had crossed to reach this infernal castle. If the dwarf had continued her questioning, he might have told her about it, but she had not. At any rate, he’d search for it when they returned. If they returned. It wasn’t in his nature to be so uncertain, after all to follow the Qun meant to be certain in one’s path, but this type of danger, danger brought about by one’s mind, was one he was unaccustomed to.

After the battle with Desire demon, Alistair, for some unfathomable reason, began to hum.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, was I doing it out loud? Sorry. It sometimes makes me feel better when things start to get overwhelming. You should give it a try.”

“I will not.”

They rounded the corner and Aeducan let out a long groan as they came face to face with a huge demon as it towered over a fallen man. An intense drowsiness took over them. Tabris and Aeducan decided, with their customary recklessness to engage it in conversation, even as they smothered yawns and fought to keep their eyes open. His last thought before he sank into sweet slumber was his hope that the two would be quick to do their duty. Sten of the Beresaad was never meant to die in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone knows, I 10% headcanon Alistair with anxity. Also if you want to look either of us up on tumblr, and maybe come and scream at us about these fics, you can find R as
> 
> [jonssnark](http://jonssnark.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and me as
> 
> [demisexualmerrill](http://demisexualmerrill.tumblr.com/)
> 
> -Styx


	9. In Which the Fade is Largely Annoying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tabris and Aeducan both find themselves traversing through the Fade to find their friends. Thankfully, they gain cool, new shapeshifting powers.

Sereda drifted back into consciousness but somehow it did not feel like waking up. Even as she opened her eyes, there was a permeating otherness about where she was that disturbed her. This was wrong, she wasn't supposed to be here, but she did not know why. The last thing she remembered had been the demon talking to them about "deserving a rest" and then feeling very drowsy. Sereda cursed.

"Watch your language, Sister," Sereda jumped as an incredibly familiar voice behind her spoke, and whirled around to see him. Bhelen continued, unaffected by the sight of the sister he condemned to death in front of his eyes. "If the deshyrs heard you swear like that, you might not be the star child anymore."

Sereda took a step backwards, hand immediately on the handle of her sword. Bhelen merely raised an eyebrow and it was so frustratingly familiar that Sereda was suddenly irrationally upset. "You look sick, Sereda. Did Ser Blackwood try to give you lectures on maintaining a sword's edge again?"

"How did you find me? Why am I here?" Sereda blurted out eventually, her tension growing by the second because of Bhelen's casualness. What did it mean that he didn't seem to want to hurt her? Did he know something she did not? Was she merely being toyed with? Where even _was_ she? Sereda finally took a second to look around and recognized the place they were standing in as the opening hall of the Proving Arena.

"What are you talking about?" Bhelen stepped forward, lifting a hand towards her forehead and Sereda immediately drew her sword. Her brother instantly stepped back, hands in the air. "Woah, there. Let's not point that thing all over the place now. Are you ill?"

"Shut up." Sereda said. "Where's Father?"

Bhelen's eyes narrowed. "There's no need to be rude." Bhelen pointed behind her towards the Proving doors. "There come Father and Trian now."

Sereda almost choked. Trian? She did not want to turn her back to Bhelen, but she didn't need to because suddenly her Father and... Trian were at her side. Trian smiled at her, almost like he used to when she was a child, and Sereda's heart hurt. This definitely was not right. "You two are here early." Trian said.

"Or maybe you're late." Bhelen countered.

Trian lifted his nose in air. "The King and the Crown Prince are never late."

Sereda whipped her head looking at both her brothers and then her father in astonishment. Eventually, she took a large step back from the group of them and held her sword up as a threat. "What sort of demon trick is this?"

"Sereda, what are you talking about?" Her father asked.

"He," Sereda nodded a head in Trian's direction. "is dead."

Trian patted down his sides and looked back up. "Looks to be alive to me." he drawled. Sereda growled. Whatever demon this was, they had Trian's annoying snark down to a tee.

Her father chuckled. "Sereda, we're late for the Provings in your honor. We don't have time for this nonsense."

And for a long second, Sereda almost wanted to believe him. If she accepted, and went along with this, would everything go back to normal? She looked at the pleasant smile on Bhelen's face and felt so very tempted. If she agreed, she didn't have to lose her brothers. She turned to look at Trian who was nodding at her with a gentle expression on her face and... that was not right. Trian would be looking at her like she was being an annoying thorn in his side for making them late, not like that. And she would hate him for it, but that was who Trian was... who Trian had been, and she did not want some nice imposter replacing him.

"No," Sereda said. "This isn't real. I want to get out."

Trian's eyes narrowed. "Why are you always being so difficult?" Sereda almost laughed.

"Now, _that_ is more like Trian, demon. But too little, too late." she grit her teeth as she saw the expression on all of their faces harden.

And then her father charged at her. Sereda had never imagined what fighting her family would be like. Except for Bhelen, who she had vividly imagined killing for about a month, now. She knew she had made the right choice, however, when her father made a spectacularly simple error in fighting technique that allowed her to overwhelm and defeat him. And then Trian went down next, with even less fanfare. Sereda felt a little sick, but she just kept repeating that it wasn't real, it wasn't real, it wasn't real.

Bhelen was last, and Sereda finally allowed herself to feel; this was something she had been waiting for. Her sword clashed against Bhelen's axe loudly. "You take pleasure in this, don't you?" Bhelen hissed at her, pressing his axe like he was trying to cut through her sword. "You want to kill your own little brother?" Sereda swung with her sword again, this time catching Bhelen in the knee. He stumbled and fell backwards. "Why can you not be content with what you have? Is it because you crave revenge?" Sereda let out a cry as she swung again, this time finally landing a fatal blow against Bhelen's chest, and then there was silence.

She stood there, chest heaving, staring at the unmoving bodies in front of her. Bhelen's last words were ringing in her ears and Sereda closed her eyes. She opened them as she heard a strange noise and looked up to see the bodies were gone and a pedestal stood at the far side of the hall.

Sereda shook herself off and walked towards the pedestal.

***

Sylvia woke up feeling light, almost weightless. She felt... almost at peace.

"Well, look who's awake!" She looked towards the doorway to the hut she was lying inside to see Alistair at the door. "Took you long enough."

"How long have I been out?" Sylvia asked. She remembered the demon but everything after that was a blank. She had no idea whose hut this was or how they had managed to get out of the Circle tower.

"You've been dozing in all morning. It's almost noon, Sylvia." she started at the use of her first name and drew herself up to a sitting position to stare at Alistair carefully. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're being weird." Sylvia said.

Alistair chuckled. "You know me. I'm always weird." He moved towards the bed and held out a hand and she gratefully took it, pulling herself up to stand beside him. Except... Alistair didn't let go after she got up. Sylvia stiffened and withdrew her hand from Alistair's perhaps a little too quickly. Now, he gave her a look. "Are you okay? You look a little startled."

"I'm fine." she said, but she could hear the higher pitch her voice took and cursed internally. "What is this hut? How did we get here?"

Alistair's brow furrowed. "Are you feeling alright, my dear?" He must have seen how startled she looked because he continued. "As in, did you hit your head or something last night? We're in our house. We went to sleep in our house. And we're still there."

Sylvia's jaw dropped and she struggled to think of a way to respond. "Don't patronize me," she eventually replied.

"Oh, never," Alistair rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Is this your way of telling me you've finally woken up to realize you're way out of my league? Because I can get that and accept it, just give me the word."

Sylvia was sure she was just staring at Alistair, her mouth opening and shutting like a confused fish. Out of his league? But that meant... How much time did she lose? "Where's Aeducan?" she asked him. If anyone could help her make sense of this, Aeducan could. She was always being infuriatingly rational.

Alistair gave her an amused look. "She and Leliana live in Orzammar now. You know this." Alistair suddenly looked incredibly concerned. "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you need to get some more rest." He moved towards and Tabris instinctively took a step back. She almost wanted to agree with him, though. And although she had never quite put words to it, she was sure the feelings that had started to blossom towards Alistair were more than platonic. But... something was missing.

"Something isn't right." Sylvia said.

"Now, you're being weird." Alistair said.

Sylvia shook her head. "No, we have to find Aeducan and the others, Alistair. Something's wrong." she moved towards the door of the hut, but Alistair blocked her path.

"Love, you're sick and not thinking clearly." he said. "I can help, but you can't just go gallivanting off into Ferelden like this.

"Alistair, listen to me." Sylvia replied. "This is important, we _have_ to go." She tried to move again but Alistair once again blocked her path.

"Why can't you be happy with just me?" he asked, and his voice was growing angry and bitter now. "We're living peacefully! We don't need to go fight some war!"

"Of course, we do!" insisted Sylvia. "We're grey wardens! We're not supposed to have peace!"

And then Alistair drew his sword. Sylvia froze. "I suppose only violence can satisfy you." he snarled, and he sounded nothing like Alistair now. He swung at her and Sylvia rolled to the side and dodged, startled to see the sword slam heavily into the bed in front of which she had just been standing. Alistair turned to swing at her again.

"Stop!" she yelled at him. She dodged another swing from his sword. Alistair didn't seem to be listening anymore. She didn't want to hurt him, but she had to do _something_. She pulled out her daggers and parried another blow. "Alistair, stop it!" She tried to use her daggers to twist his sword out of his hand but it didn't work. She swept a leg under his feet and Alistair crashed to the ground, his sword flying across to the other side of the room.

"Now, will you stop?" she asked, looking down at him warily. But she shouldn't have let her guard down. He made a grab at her foot and pulled her down with him. As Alistair lifted his hands and grasped at her neck, Sylvia panicked. Without thinking, she swung with her dagger, catching him in the neck, and all at once, he stopped moving. "Alistair?" she asked, but there was no response. She dragged herself back up to examine and was horrified to see his body looking pale and still.

She put a hand on his cheek and it was ice cold. Sylvia flinched and stumbled backwards, running towards the door leading out of the cabin. She opened it, and turned around to look at Alistair again, but now the body was gone. In its place stood a large black pedestal.

Sylvia moved towards the pedestal.

***

"Shorty!" Sereda entered some new part of this strange demon trap and was startled to hear someone call out her name. She turned as she mentally braced herself for another part of her past to attack her, and prayed to whatever was controlling this universe that it wasn't Gorim or her mother. She was pleasantly surprised to see a very familiar elf running towards her from the other edge of the large greenish plain they were standing on.

Sereda sighed in relief. "Pointy, I don't think I've ever been this glad to see you." she suddenly paused as Tabris drew closer, hand drifting to her weapon. "Wait, are you another one of these demon illusions?"

"Demon illusions?" Tabris asked. And then her eyes widened. "You saw them too!"

Sereda relaxed. The demon probably wasn't likely to confirm her suspicions, so she supposed she could believe this was Tabris for now. "Yeah," she said, shaking her head. "Some weird illusion that tried to trap me."

Tabris shuddered, and Sereda wondered what she could have seen to make her look so shaken. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Bhelen's sightless eyes were still seared in Sereda's mind, and she blinked hard to regain focus. "So," she said, looking at Tabris. "What should we do now?"

***

"There's always an obstacle. You'll see the path but be unable to get to it, and it taunts you and drives you mad."

"Sounds like fun." Sylvia said. Aeducan elbowed her. The man they had met, Niall, had been largely unhelpful and incredibly pessimistic so far. Sylvia wondered how much advice they should be taking from a _mage_ who didn't understand how to navigate the fade. Eventually, when Aeducan had managed to extract as much information from the mage as she could, they decided to just go forward and hope for the best.

They stepped through an ominous looking purple portal ("I'm telling you, this is incredibly dim witted.") and found themselves in another section of the fade and face to face with a rage demon ("I _told_ you."). The rage demon was easy enough to deal with between the two of them, though Sylvia was surprised to look down after the demon had melted away to see a brown mouse.

"Huh," Aeducan said. "Niall had mentioned a mouse, hadn't he?"

And then the mouse spoke. "Thank you," he said. "But... too late for me." Sylvia kneeled down so she could hear the mouse better and Aeducan joined her. "Kill Yvenna, the demoness that rules here. She protects her master... Sloth. There's a door, a door only demons can see. The key must be in another realm."

Aeducan looked at Sylvia. "Is everyone in the Fade this frustrating?"

The mouse didn't seem to be listening to them at all. "Take my power... save any others trapped in nightmares, kill the demons that guard Sloth. Make my..." The mouse's voice faded out as a flash of bright yellow light lit up the area around Sylvia and Aeducan.

"What in the world?" Sylvia stared in wonder at the glow emanating from her hands that slowly faded back to normal, but left a mild tingling in its place.

Aeducan was also staring at her hands in wonder but then looked back down and cursed. "He's gone!"

"What did he do to us?" Sylvia asked. She could feel something was different but it was almost... well, it almost felt like what she imagined magic felt like.

Aeducan made a humming noise. "Well, he said 'Take my power'. Whatever that means."

Sylvia looked at her in confusion. "His power? What power does a mouse have? The ability to be a mouse?" But then it sunk in. "Wait! Let me try something!" Aeducan raised a single skeptical eyebrow.

Sylvia concentrated on the idea of being a mouse, the idea of being small enough to fit into crevices, the feeling of being unnoticed and there was a sudden pop in her ears. And when she opened her eyes, she was staring at two brown paws in front of her and Aeducan's feet.

"Well, okay." Aeducan said. " _That_ looks fun."

***

Sereda had concluded that being a mouse was, in fact, not fun. Probably the opposite of fun. If the ground was being a mouse, then the concept of fun would be some celestial being floating in a space far outside the realms of mortals.

"It just doesn't make any logical sense!" Sereda said, when they shifted back to human form within the burning maze. "How is a foot long mouse inconspicuous in any way?"

"A foot long mouse that is squeaking!" Tabris replied. "You can never control the squeaking!"

Sereda slashed through another one of the flaming mabari that ran towards then and winced internally thinking of Dog. "Also, I'm pretty sure when a mouse is more than five inches long, you call it a rat!"

Tabris finished off the flaming templar that ran at them and examined the wall of fire in front of them. "You would think this magical invisible mouse could go through the gaps where the fire doesn't meet the walls."

"Ah, but you forget, we go so slowly that the peripheral heat from the flames would roast us alive." They both knew it was because the fire was enchanted but that didn't mean they couldn't complain. Sereda turned towards the path that was open to them and froze. She and Tabris both groaned at the sight of yet another dirt hole.

The templar they found on the other side was the most fascinating thing they had seen in what felt like hours.

"The anger... fading. I am free." the Templar said to them and Sereda felt a vague sense of deja vu. Did all of these fade dreamers talk like this? "Take Rhagos' power, use it and burn him... burn them all. He guards Sloth. He bars the way. You must... destroy the door... other dreamers, other powers... only way..." There was another flash of yellow light, but this time Tabris and Sereda were taken less by surprise.

As the light faded, Tabris sighed. "This Sloth guy is sounding like a real piece of work."

"It was probably the demon that put us to sleep in the tower." Sereda flexed her fingers. "Now, let's test out this new power." She concentrated and felt her body shift and grow. And then catch fire.

Sereda looked down at her flaming hands and then up at Tabris who was grinning maniacally. "Now, this is what I'm talking about." Tabris said.

***

 Sylvia was thrown backwards at a wall, but watched in satisfaction as an Arcane Horror ripped Yvenna apart. And then the Arcane Horror shifted back into Aeducan. She walked towards Sylvia with a grin. "That's definitely my favorite one."

"Any chance to be taller, short shem?" Sylvia asked and Aeducan kicked her in the shin. "Ow!"

"Any chance to crush someone in a magical prison." Aeducan shook her head. "It's a shame that dwarves can't have magic. I would have made a great mage."

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Well, one demon down, five to go."

***

Finding the first of their companions in the area of the Fade was an absolute relief. However, seeing Wynne surrounded by dead mage bodies as she blamed herself was incredibly distressing. Tabris and Aeducan did not know the elder mage very well, but they tried their best to be as sensitive as possible. Sylvia spent the entire encounter fearing that she might have to fight another one of her friends and was relieved when Wynne seemed to come to her senses.

Still dead mage bodies rising from the ground to attack them was disconcerting all on its own. And then Wynne was taken away from them.

Aeducan cursed, driving her sword into the ground and taking a seat next to it. "This Sloth is playing some twisted game and I want no part of it." she said.

Sylvia nodded, and after staring at the spot on of the mages had been before they disappeared, she took a seat next to Aeducan. "I wonder how he chooses dreams." Sylvia said.

"Unsure," Aeducan replied. "For me, he tried to give me some twisted version of paradise."

Sylvia shivered even though it wasn't cold. "Same," she replied, eventually. Aeducan was still silent, a somewhat haunted look in her eyes, and Sylvia could relate. "What was the paradise?" she asked.

Aeducan snorted without humor. "He gave me my family back." Aeducan took a deep breath to steady herself. "He sent me back to Orzammar like I had never been exiled. I had my brothers and my father and my home back."

Sylvia made a sympathetic noise. "How did you manage to leave? That sounds almost ideal."

Aeducan laughed. "I did almost consider it, but the demon had gotten some details just a little wrong." Sylvia gave her a questioning look. "My brothers were never that kind to me. I would always know this was an illusion because Trian was allergic to treating me kindly."

"Wait... Trian was..."

"My elder brother who died, yes." Aeducan said. "He and I were quite close as kids, but as we grew older, my father's parenting tactics lead to a lot of unresolved animosity." Aeducan laughed again. "I guess that's why it was so easy for Father to believe I had killed him."

"That's... unfortunate." Sylvia said.

"You're beginning to sound like all those dreamers who give us powers."

"Just when I try to be nice to you, you stab me in the back."

Aeducan laughed, but without bitterness this time, and Sylvia smiled. "I'm your family now." she whispered, almost instinctively.

"What?" Aeducan asked.

"Nothing." she said, quickly.

"So, what about your dream?" Sylvia stiffened. Aeducan held her hands up. "Not pressing, of course."

"No," Sylvia said. "I mean, I probably should talk about it." she looked at Aeducan. "If you make a single teasing joke, though-"

"I won't!"

"That was the weakest lie I've ever heard from you." Aeducan rolled her eyes at her and Sylvia sighed. "It was actually about Alistair."

"Alistair?" Aeducan said, in confusion. "I would have thought the demon would choose..."

"My family?" Sylvia asked. "Yeah, me too." she sighed again. "No, it was me and Alistair, living together in _our_ home." Aeducan's eyebrows raised dramatically. "Yes, I know." Sylvia stared at her hands, the dream playing in her head over and over again. "I hadn't even realized I felt that way, really, until that moment."

"Everyone else definitely did." Sylvia whacked her in the arm. "Ow!"

"No comments!" Aeducan rubbed at her arm and glared. Sylvia was secretly happy for the interruption, though. The dream had been so incredibly vivid, it was easy to almost get pulled back in. "And then, I had to escape the dream so..."

"Oh," Aeducan said. Sylvia's mouth tasted like ash. "Yes, I know the feeling."

"At least, you had a chance to kill your other brother." said Sylvia. "The murderer."

"Bhelen?" Aeducan said. "Yes, you would think I would have been happy about that." Sylvia looked at her curiously. "I guess the idea of killing someone you hate and actually killing your own brother are two vastly different things."

They were both silent for a long time, contemplating the things they had done to escape Sloth's grasp. "Do you think running around as a burning skeleton would help you feel better?" Aeducan asked eventually.

Sylvia laughed. "It would certainly help."

***

They found Sten next. He was trapped in a dream in with two of his fallen brothers in arms.

"This is a dream. I am not a fool, Warden. I remember seeing the karashok over there have his head torn off." Sten said. Sereda looked over at the two complaining brothers and felt an inexplicable kinship with the Qunari rise in her chest. "It's a dream, but it's a good dream." Perhaps, this was how Tabris would have found her if she had not overcome her desire to stay with her family.

"This isn't like you, Sten." Tabris said. "You're supposed to be practical."

"Yes, and what has that accomplished? Death. Dishonor. Exile." Sten replied, his eyes darkening. "There is nothing left to fight for."

The story of the qunari falling into place in Sereda's mind was almost eerily familiar. "If you stay here, they died for nothing, Sten." Sereda said.

Sten looked at her for a moment, contemplating. "For once, you are right, Warden. I owe them a victory." And of course, this was followed by a battle with Sten's brothers, and then another one of their companions was stolen away from them.

"I'm getting really tired of this." Tabris said and Sereda could not agree more.

***

The golem form, Aeducan and Tabris both concluded, had the best advantages. Tabris' personal favorite was still the burning man. Nothing could quite compare to running flaming into the midst of enemies and slashing wildly around, leaving damage in your wake. Aeducan, personally, was a fan of the spirit form herself. She took great pleasure in flying above the heads of enemies and using body binds on them, and then taking her slow time picking each enemy off one by one.

The golem, however, brought practical aspects that they could both appreciate. Such as the ability to smash through doors. And the ability to destroy walls. And the ability to create small localized earthquakes. And throwing rocks. The Fade was incredibly grueling, but the different forms made it somewhat tolerable.

Except for the mouse form. They both agreed the mouse form could burn in the blighted burning tower.

***

Leliana they found kneeling in front of a Revered Mother, her head bowed in prayer. Sylvia thought it odd that Leliana was the only one of their companions to not remember them at all. If Sloth was capable of wiping memories, then why not do that to all of them?

"Leliana," Aeducan said. "I need you to trust me and think about why your dream was so important to you." Sylvia could tell Aeducan was a little shaken by the rogue completely forgetting who she was but the dwarf still managed to keep it together. As Leliana came to her senses, the Revered Mother, of course, decided to attack.

"That was... horrifying." Leliana said, gasping and nodding gratefully as Aeducan gave her hand to help her get up from the ground. She looked at Aeducan almost in wonder. "I cannot believe I forgot you. Maker... my head hurts." Tabris coughed, and Leliana tore her eyes away from Aeducan's to look at her, though Sylvia noticed their hands remained clasped. "Of course, you as well, Tabris."

It seemed to Sylvia that there was a gleam of hope in Aeducan's eyes, as if she thought the demon would leave at least one of their friends behind. But just as they were starting to think Leliana had avoided Sloth, she began to fade from view as well. Aeducan watched as Leliana's hand faded, even while she held it.

"I'm about ready to kill this demon." Aeducan growled.

Sylvia nodded. But they still had to find Alistair.

***

Alistair, it seemed, was living in a lovely little cabin in the woods with his sister Goldanna. Sereda looked over at Tabris who had paled from the moment they had seen Alistair and was continuing to look vaguely ill. She decided to do most of the talking. Alistair, unfortunately, was so blissfully happy that he was the hardest to convince of the Fade's tricks, though Sereda appreciated the trust he placed in them.

"Think about this and how you got here," She said. "Think carefully."

Alistair rolled his eyes. "All right, if it makes you happy." Sereda chanced another glance at Tabris who now seemed to breathing a little too quickly for Sereda's comfort. They needed to end this sooner rather than later. "It's... it's a little fuzzy. That's strange..." Alistair said, unsure.

"Alistair, come and have some tea." his 'sister' said, and Sereda nearly drew her sword preemptively.

"No... wait... I remember a... tower. The Circle... it was under attack... there were demons. That's all I can really remember." Alistair's voice was growing more confident as he talked, which was definitely a good sign. "Something... doesn't feel quite right here. I think I have to go."

"She isn't really your sister." Sereda said, glaring at Goldanna.

Sereda wasn't going to lie, Goldanna's voice dropping in pitch had definitely spooked her. Perhaps Sloth knew they were getting close and was trying better intimidation tactics. Alistair was looking at where the body of sister had been with something like shock. "I can't believe I didn't see it earlier."

Sereda shook her head. "It's not your fault."

Alistair smiled sheepishly. "Well, just, try not to tell everyone how easily fooled I was?"

"We were all fooled by the demon's dreams." Sereda jumped at the sound of Tabris' voice. She hadn't heard the elf speak at all since they had set eyes on Alistair. Alistair seemed to finally look at Tabris and gave her a warm smile, the kind he always seemed to give only her. Tabris rushed forward and hugged him.

Alistair let out a small "oof" of surprise, before hugging Tabris back so carefully, as if afraid this was also another part of the dream. Eventually, Tabris stepped back, not quite meeting Alistair's eye. "What was that for?" he asked, but before Tabris had to answer, he was fading away. "Wait, where are you going? What's happening to me?"

And then he was gone. Sereda raised her eyebrows at Tabris.

"We are never talking about this again." Tabris warned.

***

Of course Sloth could turn into multiple different demon forms. That was just typical. Sylvia had spent this day being beaten around by ogres, thrown into walls by desire demons, and being bound with magic by arcane horrors. She watched as Sloth shifted into the form that they had met him as originally, the arcane horror, and made eye contact with Aeducan, who nodded at her.

They both concentrated, and in unison, morphed into two gigantic golems. Alistair screamed. The rest of their companions froze. Sylvia and Aeducan charged towards the demon, putting in as much brute force as physically possible in this form, which was quite a lot, and in a manner of minutes, the demon was dead.

Unfortunately, even after all their effort, they were unable to save Niall, who refused to come with them out of the Fade. Sylvia gritted her teeth as the mage described that he had been here far too long and that his body would have long wasted away. Aeducan desperately tried to argue with the man, but it was to little avail. "Remember the Litany of Adralla. The Circle is all that matters now. Thank you... and goodbye, friends."

And then they were drifting out of the haze of the Fade, and the room they had entered in the Circle tower finally came back into focus. They all let out varying levels of groans as they got to their feet. "He couldn't have put us in more comfortable positions?" Aeducan asked.

"It's like I can feel my spine digging into my spine." Alistair whined.

Wynne who, out of all them, seemed the least affected, smirked at Alistair. "Once you're my age, you'll learn to get used to it."

Sylvia moved towards the body of the mage behind the dead Sloth demon and recognized the robes that Niall had been wearing in the Fade. Unfortunately, like he had said, his body had wasted away. Sylvia reached into his robes and extracted a white scroll that must be the Litany that Niall had described. She lifted it up to show Aeducan who nodded.

"So, now what?" Aeducan asked. "We go find and cure the mages?"

Sylvia shook her head, sadly. "We can't know for sure until we see what has happened to them. But perhaps, this can help us save at least some lives." Aeducan winced.

Sylvia leaned down and closed Niall's eyes.

Aeducan moved towards the doors leading to the next floor. "If I see another demon, I might lose my mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got so long yikes. Also I wish I could deal with my problems by running around as a skeleton on fire. -R


	10. In Which Mage Genocide is Never an Option

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If the gang wants to get out of the tower, they've got an abomination to fight.

Sylvia was starting to think they were never getting out of this Maker-forsaken tower. Every corridor lead them into a dead end, and every corner was covered in a sort of gory, gooey substance that she didn’t want to think too hard about. And on top of it all, her leg fucking hurt. She had landed on it awkwardly during a fight on the lower floors, which felt like it happened days ago rather than merely hours. She hadn’t thought much of it then, figuring that it wasn’t too big a deal. Obviously she was wrong.

She winced as she took a step forward, trying to hide the expression on her face. If the others noticed, they’d worry, and worrying wasn’t going to help anyone. Besides, she’d had worse. On her wedding day alone- well, it’d probably be better for her not to think about that. She bit back a groan as her ankle throbbed in protest.

“Are you alright?”

Sylvia jumped at the soft voice near her ear, and winced again when the movement jarred her injury. Alistair smiled at her sheepishly.

“You’re walking funny.”

“My leg hurts a little. I’m fine.” she replied shortly. Alistair was another thing she didn’t need to be thinking about. She wasn’t sure what had come over her in the Fade (a lie. She knew perfectly well) and she was never that impulsive (another lie, a much bigger lie) but she was already starting to regret it (the biggest lie of them all). “Just the kind of stupid thing you’d do, ‘Via.” she muttered to herself.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Right.” Alistair drew out the word, turning it into a familiar drawl. The easy way he could _voice_ an eye-roll had always fascinated her. She risked a glance out of the corner of her eye and her chest constricted. He just looked so _concerned_. Over _her_. No one outside the family had looked at her like that. Certainly no Shem. Suspicion she was used to. Disgust, and even lust. But genuine concern and kindness? Never. It made her heart beat in double time and her breath catch in her throat.

“I’m fine.” she repeated.

“Tabris. Use an injury kit.”

“Don’t waste it, we might need it later.”

Alistair started.  “Using a kit when you’re injured is not a waste.”

“We might need it later.”

“Use it or I’m telling Aeducan.”

“Tell her. She’s not in charge of me.”

“Do it or I’ll tell _Wynne_.”

“Alright, fine.”

She couldn’t help but answer his triumphant grin with one of her own.

***

If she was being honest, Sereda had started out sympathetic with the Templar. He had obviously been through some kind of severe emotional trauma, if the condition they’d found him in was any indication. However, asking them to murder everyone in the tower seemed a little excessive. Tabris bristled next to her like an angry porcupine.

“You’re willing to condemn an entire race of people because of the _possibility_ they’re all corrupted? You don’t even want to check for survivors?”

“It is better this way.”

“I think I hate you a little bit.”

Sereda just barely resisted slapping a palm to her forehead. This is why she should be voice of the group honestly. She subtly stepped on Tabris’ foot. “Please leave the diplomacy to me.” she muttered without moving her lips. Tabris glowered but shut up without further commentary.

“Listen, Cullen. You’ve obviously been through a lot.”

Cullen muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “Understatement of the century”, but Sereda elected to ignore that for the sake of her patience.

“ _You’ve obviously been through a lot_.” she continued forcefully “However, are you sure this would be the right course of action?”

“They are beyond our help. Uldred and his followers must be stopped!”

“I agree with that, but it is not a call for mage genocide.”

Sten made a disapproving noise. “If these mages are as dangerous as you say, they must be put down.”

“The threat of corruption is not enough for me to _murder_ an entire population.” Sereda shot back at him. He subsided with a small frown. Wynne and Leliana looked relieved.

“Do what you wish.” Cullen sighed in defeat, leaning against the magical barrier that sealed him in. “May the Maker watch over you, whatever you should decide to do.”

“We’ll be back, don’t go anywhere.”

Cullen glared at them balefully.

“Poor bastard.” Alistair said softly.

Sereda squared her shoulders and could see Tabris do the same out of the corner of her eye. They moved in tandem, marching towards the Harrowing chamber without a backwards glance.

***                                                                                                                  

This was the first time since this whole mess had started that Sylvia could actually recall being afraid. She had mostly been fuelled by anger in Vaughan’s manor, so consumed by it that there was no room for anything else inside her. In Ostagar it was pure adrenaline, spurred on by the clang of metal and stench of gore, and promise of a fight where she had a _chance_. This was nothing like that. She had back up this time, sure, but stepping into the Harrowing chamber, she felt woefully underpowered. Sylvia was scared.

They entered just in time to see Uldred turn an unwilling mage into an abomination. Typical.

“All in favour of _not_ murdering everyone in the room?” Sylvia muttered as Aeducan stepped up to do the talking.

“Aye.” said Leliana and Alistair immediately. Wynne followed them with a slightly bemused expression. Sten just made a non-committal noise.

Sylvia focused back on Aeducan in time to see Uldred himself transform into a huge abomination.

“A pride demon.” said Wynne in disgust “Why am I not surprised.”

“Oh Maker, we’re going to die!” Alistair cried in a strangely sing-song voice.

Sylvia breathed out a laugh and rolled out of the way of the abomination’s first attack. She sprang back to her feet near Aeducan, who had already drawn her sword.

“I thought you were supposed to be an expert diplomat!”

“There are some people even I can’t reason with!”

“Please tell me you have that Litany thing with you!”

“Of course, I’m not _stupid_.”

“Debatable.”

“Rude!”

“Wynne will let us know when we should use it so be ready. Everybody else, scatter!”

With that the party spread out, Sylvia pushed her fear to the back of her mind. They had work to do.

***

Alistair was genuinely surprised they had managed to survive this fight. He was uncomfortably aware exactly how underprepared they were to deal with this situation. He’d managed to fall back on his old templar skills, but it had been a while, and he was a little rusty. Irving was unsurprisingly delighted to be rescued from the clutches of a megalomaniac, and was quite happy to return with them to Greagoir as proof of their success. They found Morrigan where they had left her, entertaining a group of wide-eyed children with stories from her childhood which may not have been entirely appropriate. She turned when she heard them come in.

“Oh, it seems you have survived.” she said, rising from the middle of her audience amidst a chorus of protests.

“Please, Morrigan, finish the story first!” cried out one girl.

“Yeah, what did you do when the soldier cornered you?” inquired a boy.

“Now that’s a story for another time.” she said giving the children a smile that was softer than any of the party members had seen from her. The children let out a disappointed groan.

“That. Is. Terrifying.” mumbled Alistair. He thought he saw Aeducan nod in agreement, but he couldn’t be sure. His heart wasn’t in it, really. Ever since they’d left the fade, his mind was elsewhere.

She had hugged him. He couldn’t believe it, and part of him was certain it was another part of the dream. The logical part of his brain knew that the dreams ended when the demon was defeated, but he tried to ignore it. It would be too much to hope and then be disappointed.

He was lost in his thoughts throughout their journey back, spaced out while Tabris and Aeducan convinced the mages to support their cause (“They wanted to wipe out the entire tower, Pointy, so I say we scrap the templar idea.”), and when they recruited Wynne into their little band of misfits. They were completing their final preparations to leave the tower when Alistair couldn’t take it anymore.

“Tabris, can I talk to you for a moment?”

She froze and turned to him with an air of forced casualness. “Sure Alistair. What’s on your mind?”

He swallowed heavily. “What happened in the Fade…” he trailed off, unsure if that was his question in and of itself, or if he wanted to say something more.

Tabris let out a sigh, and he braced himself for the inevitable. “Listen, Alistair. What happened in the Fade… I wasn’t thinking.”

Oh. “So… It was a mistake.”

“What, no! I mean, I don’t think so. I was just so relieved to see you there, and I just stopped thinking and well… I just don’t know” she let out a frustrated noise, dragging her fingers through her hair and tugging at the short strands. “Listen can we talk about this later. I just can’t right now. I mean-”

“Yeah I think I understand. Don’t worry. Some other time then.” He gave a tentative smile, and was relieved to see he got one in return, a bit shaky but true. They could figure it out later. They had time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uldred transforms into a pride demon, and somewhere in Kirkwall, Hawke wakes up in a cold sweat with no idea why. -Styx


	11. In Which Relationships Are Dumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our gang finally leaves the Circle Tower and moves toward their next destination. Also, some couples get their stuff together and some mess up. And there's an assassination attempt.

When they arrived back at the shores of Lake Calenhad, Sten felt uncomfortable again. It was useless to wonder where his sword could have been taken from here and yet still he longed to look for it. Such senseless logic was unbecoming of the Qunari. Though, without his sword, he could hardly be considered alive, much less Qunari.

That was when he spotted the scavenger. "Aeducan," he said, catching the attention of the dwarf. He didn't say anything else, but Aeducan quickly spot the direction he was looking in, and turned back to him with a quizzical look.

"Do you know that man, Sten?" she asked and he shook his head.

"I... was posted here with my Beresaad, before I was in Lothering."

Aeducan looked almost stunned that he was telling her this at all, which Sten would find amusing if he wasn't chiding himself for acting so rashly right now. He had no reason to go after his sword, it would be impossible to find it in a country so large and fraught with war. And yet, he longed for it to return to his hand. The weapon that Tabris and Aeducan had provided him with felt like a cheap imitation, an insult to what had been taken from him. Aeducan nodded at him to continue. "I lost my sword when the darkspawn attacked us here, and I would appreciate the chance to search for it."

Aeducan nodded again. "I gather you'd like to question that man over there? He looks like a scavenger, and could have seen something." She didn't question why he would be this distraught over a sword. Perhaps dwarves viewed their weaponry in a similar way. He had heard they crafted some of the strongest metals in this country.

Aeducan waved a hand towards Tabris and the others to gesture them to stop. The elf looked confused but followed suit and Sten once again wondered at the strange exchange of leadership that seemed to occur between them. Nothing in the Qun permitted a sharing of roles in this manner but they somehow seemed to make it work.

Questioning the scavenger did nothing but make Sten feel more defeated. His sword had been taken by another merchant on the other side of Ferelden. Aeducan, however, did not look disappointed. "We'll find it, Sten. Believe me."

And although the idea seemed ludicrous, Sten strangely did believe her.

***

Arriving back at camp felt almost like coming home, and Sylvia had never thought cloth tents could look so comforting. But pride demons would do that to you. Leliana and Aeducan were out on "guard duty" (which Sylvia definitely thought involved more flirting than guarding), and now she was relegatde to giving the grimoire they had found to Morrigan.

"Ah," Morrigan said, as Sylvia approached her tent that was on the farthest edge of their campsite. "Have you come to apologize after forcing me to babysit in the tower?"

"No one forces you to do anything, Morrigan, and don't deny that you liked those little kids." Morrigan merely rolled her eyes. Sylvia gritted her teeth. This woman really did put her on edge sometimes. "Aeducan and I found something in the tower that seemed like something you would be interested in." She held out the Black Grimoire and Sylvia watched as Morrigan's eyes widened in fascination.

"Is this..." Morrigan reached out her hands and took the book. "This is Flemeth's Grimoire." she looked at Sylvia in wonder and Sylvia swore she had never seen the witch look this excited before. "I cannot believe you found it!"

"Are you going to take it back to Flemeth?" Sylvia asked. She was sure Flemeth would not want her grimoire just lying around.

Morrigan burst into a cackle and Sylvia wondered whether she practiced sounding that evil or if it just happened. She was a little jealous of the ability in either case. "Oh, _no_ , this book contains many of my mother's secrets. It would be a _shame_ to give it back to her."

Sylvia almost laughed herself now. Morrigan sounded so much like a rebellious daughter. "Don't kill anything using that," she replied, just in case.

"No promises," Morrigan said, barely listening as she opened the grimoire to skim the first pages. "I shall study every word." Eventually, she looked up at Sylvia and nodded with a smile growing on her face. "You have my thanks."

Sylvia raised her eyebrows, and then nodded back. "You're welcome."

***

After returning to camp, Sereda had immediately pulled Sten aside to ask him more about this sword. And to her surprise, the qunari had told her a surprising amount about what happened to him before he had been in Lothering. She had talked to Tabris about the situation and they had both concluded that they definitely needed to find Sten's sword, though going all the way to the Frostback Mountains right away over the rumor of a merchant, who may or may not have this sword, wouldn't be the best idea. But Sereda knew she would try her best to get it back to him.

Feeling tired but still full of adrenaline after the incident in the tower, Sereda had volunteered to take the first shift of guard duty with Leliana. She sat down on the log near the edge of camp with Leliana, still grinning over the look on Tabris' face when Sereda had told her she had the honor of giving the grimoire to Morrigan. "You seem happy," Leliana said, and Sereda felt that familiar tightness in her chest that happened when she heard Leliana's voice.

"It's been a productive day." Sereda said and Leliana nodded.

Leliana looked at the sky. "We're out of the tower now but somehow, I feel safer at night, out here. Almost as if the darkspawn cannot find us in the dark. Silly, isn't it?"

"Maybe a little silly." Sereda replied, smiling at her. Leliana kicked at her foot lightly with her own and Sereda laughed. "No, I think I know what you mean. The darkness almost helps us forget the rest of the world exists."

Leliana hummed in agreement and they sat in comfortable silence, watching the stars, just feeling each other's presence. Sereda still found it difficult to think about the sky and not feel overwhelmed, but somehow Leliana sitting near her was almost grounding. She had not felt this at ease with someone since... Gorim, probably.

Leliana shifted and turned to look at her, suddenly. "In the Fade," she said. "I think I forgot who you were."

Sereda looked at her in curiosity. "Yes, you forgot both me and Tabris. Everything after your life in Lothering."

"No," Leliana said, shaking her head. "I know I forgot them, but forgetting you... I still cannot believe I forgot you."

"What do you mean?" Sereda asked, even though she imagined she knew what Leliana meant.

"I mean," Leliana was hesitating and Sereda was surprised. She had never seen the Sister look this... awkward. "Well, what I want to say is..." Leliana made a frustrated noise. "Look at me, stumbling over my words like a school girl."

"You can tell me." Sereda replied. Leliana gave her a grateful smile.

"What I mean is, I can't believe I forgot you because you're our leader... and my friend. And sometimes, I think m-maybe we could be more than that..." Leliana was rambling now and it was adorable.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed."

Leliana, if possible, reddened more. "I'm not embarrassed! I'm just flushed... because of... the heat."

Sereda laughed. Leliana glared at her. "I'm not laughing at you! I promise." Sereda held out a hand and Leliana took it. She wasn't sure what to say to Leliana. Leliana had all but confessed her feelings and Sereda knew she felt the same. She knew what that feeling in her chest was every time she saw the redhead knocked around by another enemy. She knew what she still felt for Gorim, but at the same time, that felt almost like a different version of her, a version of Sereda who hadn't been exiled or put in charge of the impossible task of defeating a Blight with three grey wardens.

And she knew this version of her felt safe in the presence of Leliana. And that she wanted to be more. Sereda had been silent for too long now, because Leliana had started to talk again. "Is that a no? Are you trying to think of the easiest way to break it to me? I had thought that you felt the same, but perhaps that was all in my head? It's okay if it was, I would understand." Leliana was rambling now, and Sereda knew she should answer her. "Sereda, are you not going to say any-" And Sereda kissed her.

It was very different from kissing a man. Leliana was softer, and smelled like wildflowers. Unlike Gorim, where a kiss was almost another sort of battle, Leliana seemed to melt into her. Sereda smiled against her lips and Leliana began to giggle.

"So, I suppose that is a yes?" Leliana whispered. Sereda decided to just kiss her again.

When they finished their guard shift a few hours later and walked back towards camp, Leliana made sure their fingers were entwined. And even though normally Alistair's gobsmacked face and Tabris' suggestive whistle would annoy her, Sereda just felt very warm.

She did tell Tabris to stuff it, though.

***

They started to make their way to Redcliffe in the morning. Sylvia was steadily avoiding having a real conversation with Alistair, and talking about their Grey Warden duties really helped push that talk to the side without fail. Once they were close enough to Redcliffe, they decided to set up camp and head towards the town with a smaller entourage.

"How about Morrigan, Sten, Wynne, and Alistair?" Sereda asked.

Sylvia shook her head. "Morrigan is far too preoccupied with the Grimoire right now, I think she'd prefer to stay here for a while. And Sten seems a little shaky after that concussion in the tower. He needs to rest."

"And Morrigan and Sten aren't likely to kill each other." Aeducan raised an eyebrow.

"Morrigan can take care of herself." Sylvia replied.

"That's what I'm worried about. So, Leliana and Dog instead?"

They set off towards Redcliffe, which was still a few hours journey away. Alistair seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts and had not tried to talk to her again since they left camp, which was completely fine for Sylvia. She stuck to interrogating Aeducan and Leliana about their interesting night at camp a day ago.

"Pointy, this is absolutely _none_ of your-" Aeducan was interrupted by a woman running up to them.

"Oh, thank the Maker! We need help. They attacked the wagon! _Please_ help us." The woman was panicked. "Follow me! I'll take you to them!"

Sylvia exchanged a look with Aeducan. Aeducan's skeptical eyes said ' _This seems suspiciously like a trap._ ' and Sylvia replied with a jerk of her head towards the woman which said ' _Okay, but look_.' Aeducan sighed and Sylvia knew she had won. Her feeling of triumph lasted about as long as it took for that annoying ' _I told you so_ ' look to appear on Aeducan's face after the tree had fallen behind them, blocking their exit.

"I didn't know we were popular enough to be ambushed!" Alistair called out, ducking another arrow that flew past him. Sylvia winced.

"Leliana!" she called out.

"On it." Leliana replied, finishing off the attacker nearest to her and pulling out her bow to aim at the archers lining the cliffs.

Sylvia herself was fighting an elf who seemed to be far more skilled at this than the rest of the attackers. He seemed to almost enjoy the fight, jumping from side to side, moving in a strange rhythm to avoid her blade. "My dear, are you trying to flirt with me? I do rather like this dance." the elf said with a laugh. Unfortunately, he didn't notice Aeducan creeping up behind him.

"Perhaps I'm just toying with you." Sylvia shot back. The elf gave her a look that reminded her of duels she used to have with Shianni and Soris. Sylvia nodded at Aeducan. The dwarf drew her greatsword and smashed the hilt into the back of his head. The elf dropped, unconscious.

Aeducan kicked his sword and dagger from his hands. "We'll come back to him." she said, and Sylvia nodded.

With their leader incapacitated, they finished off the rest of the attackers quicker. Aeducan took an arrow to the arm, causing her to hiss and drop her sword, but they had already managed to take out the majority of the attackers. Leliana, Wynne, and Dog swiftly picked off the stragglers along the cliff, while Sylvia and Alistair cleared the rest of the ones remaining on the ground. Sylvia stabbed the last attacker in the back and caught Alistair's eyes as her victim fell. He grinned at her, the same, stupid, goofy smile as always, and Sylvia fought an annoying heat rising in her cheeks. _Now is not the time_ , she thought to herself.

Aeducan made a pained noise as she got to her feet and Sylvia watched Leliana rush to the dwarf's side. Aeducan pulled the arrow out and winced.

"Let me," Wynne said, fussing and moving Leliana aside. "You need to be more careful."

Leliana nodded. "I agree. You take on too many attackers at once."

Dog barked in agreement.

"I didn't know this was 'talk about Sereda's faults' hour." Aeducan grumbled.

"Had to have an intervention sometime, short shem." Sylvia said.

Aeducan rolled her eyes and Sylvia opened her mouth to add something but they were interrupted by a groaning noise coming from behind her. Aeducan shrugged Wynne away and picked up her sword, moving forward as Sylvia turned, daggers raised. She saw Alistair unsheath his sword as well. The groan was coming from the elf that Aeducan had knocked out. Aeducan held her sword out at the elf with her good arm as he began to open his eyes slowly.

"Mmm... What? I... Oh." The elf started to rise but seeing the sword pointed at his face, slowly sank back down. "I rather thought I would wake up dead. Or not wake up at all, as the case may be. But I see you haven't killed me yet."

"That can be easily rectified." Aeducan replied.

"You would rather be dead?" Sylvia asked.

"Of course I don't want to die, but as the case may be, it is probably inevitable now." the elf said. "But I gather you want me alive to interrogate me?"

"Seems you're used to this." Aeducan said.

"Well, as an Antivan Crow, the occasional interrogation is not unheard of."

His accent finally clicked for Sylvia. "Antiva! I knew you didn't sound Ferelden."

"We're all amazed by your observational skill." Aeducan said to her and Sylvia kicked her in the shin. Aeducan didn't even flinch. This woman would die to maintain appearances. "Why do the Antivan Crows want us dead?" she asked, turning back to the elf.

He chuckled. "The Antivan Crows don't _want_ to kill you. I'm merely a sword for hire. The Antivan Crows are asked to do something, they send me, and then they get paid."

Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "Then, who _did_ send you?"

Aeducan snorted. "I'll give you one guess. There's only one man in this country with the coin to send assassins after us."

"Loghain." Alistair hissed and Sylvia groaned.

"Can't he just wait until we're ready to fight?" Sylvia asked.

The elf laughed. "But doesn't that ruin the adventure and intrigue of the whole experience?" And Sylvia decided she rather liked this elf.

"What's your name?" she asked. Aeducan stepped on her foot and Sylvia ignored her.

"My name is Zevran, Zev to my friends. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he held out a hand and Sylvia grinned. She reached out to take his hand but her arm was slapped aside by Aeducan.

"Are you insane?" the dwarf asked her. "Let's just become friends with someone who tried to assassinate us?"

"I like him." Sylvia replied.

"Tabris, you can't-" Aeducan began but stopped at a clearing of a throat.

"If I may help, ladies, I have a proposal that could clear this up for you." They both turned to Zevran, expectantly. "Well, here's the thing. If I failed to kill you, my life is forfeit. That's how it works. If you don't kill me, the Crows will. Thing is, I like living. And you, obviously, are the sort to give the Crows pause. So, let me serve you, instead."

Sylvia opened her mouth to reply but Aeducan quickly cut her off. " _If_ you failed?"

"What can I say? I'm an eternal optimist." Zevran chuckled but stopped at the glare on Aeducan's face. "I suppose you wouldn't find that funny. But truly, the chances of me succeeding now are a bit slim, wouldn't you agree?"

"You must think I'm an idiot." Aeducan said.

"Aeducan," Sylvia hissed. She gestured the dwarf to the side. Aeducan sighed and nodded at Alistair to keep an eye on their captive.

"You can't possibly expect us to invite an assassin paid by Loghain to come, right?"

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "He's an Antivan Crow and an elf. I'll bet you 3 sovereigns he was sold as a slave to them and isn't being given a single coin for his work."

"Believe me, the severance package is garbage." they heard Zevran say loudly behind them and Aeducan sighed.

"And if this is all a ploy? All so he can slit our throats in our sleep and collect the reward for the Crows afterwards?"

"Have some faith!" Sylvia whined.

"You want me to base this on faith?" Aeducan asked, incredulously.

"He's a good fighter and having another quick attacker on our team would be helpful! It would mean having to bring Leliana on less trips and putting her in less danger." Aeducan growled. "And," Sylvia added. "I let you keep Sten."

Aeducan threw her hands up. "Fine, whatever. Let's invite the assassin." Sylvia let out a whoop and walked back to Zevran.

"Welcome to the team!" Sylvia said, holding out a hand which Zevran gratefully grabbed to pull himself up.

" _Really_?" Alistair asked. "An _assassin_?"

"I shall strive to be of service to you until whatever point you wish to be rid of me." Zevran mimed tipping his hat at Sylvia and Aeducan.

Sylvia grinned.

***

To keep their party the same size, they had decided to send Dog back to camp since he would be safe on his own and knew the way back best.

Zevran and Tabris had established a friendship almost immediately, Sereda noticed in awe. She supposed growing up in Orzammar, she had never understood the feeling of otherness that came with being a minority. Tabris grew up knowing she needed to depend on other elves and it was probably comforting to finally have another one on their team.

A few steps behind Zevran and Tabris, Leliana and Wynne were having what looked like a deep discussion about the implications of the Maker having a human wife and what that said about the Chant of Light. Sereda wasn't quite in the mood for theological discussion, but she spent the trip making eye contact with Leliana during her conversation and smiling. She felt the warmth bubble up whenever Leliana faltered in the middle of what she was saying and smiled back. The look on Wynne's face after one of those smiles let Sereda know that there was going to be conversation about this at some point.

Alistair had been walking next to her, not near Tabris, oddly enough, for the past hour. He had also been very quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

"Are you alright?" Sereda asked eventually, because she could feel the tension settling like a cloud around the man.

"Yeah, fine, I'm fine." Alistair said, his voice just slightly squeaky.

Sereda sighed. He'd tell them eventually, she figured. She would have assumed that it might have to do with how close Zevran and Tabris were getting, but Alistair seemed mostly preoccupied in his own thoughts.

They would find out exactly what he was preoccupied with when they sighted Redcliffe village in the distance.

"I need to speak to you both for a minute." Alistair called out, a little abruptly, motioning at Tabris and Sereda. Tabris looked a little concerned, giving Sereda a _Look_ which she returned. Sereda waved off the others to the side, as Alistair seemed to want this to be private. "Before we enter Redcliffe, there's something I should tell you. That I probably should have told you earlier."

"We're not going to like this, I assume." Tabris said, though she was grinning now.

"I... don't know. I doubt it. I've never liked it, that's for sure." Tabris' grin faded slightly and Sereda flexed her hand nervously. She didn't like surprises and she hoped to the ancestors that this was something small like 'There's a weapon maker in Redcliffe who hates me!'. Alistair's face wasn't giving her much hope.

Alistair was looking at Tabris now, even while he spoke to both of them. "I told you before how Arl Eamon raised me, right? How my mother was a serving girl at the castle and he took me in?" He had not told Sereda this or she definitely would have questioned more but Tabris was nodding.

"Wait, he doesn't want you dead or anything, right?" Tabris asked and Alistair let out a loud laugh, as he seemed to relax a little.

"No, no," he shook his head. "At least, I don't think so." Alistair was wringing his hands now and Sereda fought the urge to ask him why an Arl would take in a serving girl's son but she suspected the answer was coming. "Anyway, the reason he took me in was because... well, my father was King Maric. Which made Cailan my... half-brother, I suppose."

There was a moment of dead silence but Sereda caught the look on Tabris' face that she quickly concealed with a mask of indifference. That didn't look good. After a tense moment where Alistair seemed to be waiting for a reply, Sereda said "And... you didn't think to tell us this before?"

"Everyone who knew either resented me for it or they coddled me... even Duncan kept me out of the fighting because of it. I didn't want you to know, as long as possible. I'm sorry." Alistair was looking at the ground now, carefully avoiding eye contact with Tabris.

"You didn't want us to know that you're nobility?" Tabris asked, and Sereda could hear the bite in her voice. Alistair flinched slightly.

"Not _you_ specifically! Just... in general." Alistair waved his arms around vaguely. "And I'm not nobility!"

"Not technically." Tabris muttered. The elf looked a little ill and Sereda decided she was going to have smack Alistair after this.

She shook her head. "Doesn't that make you heir to the throne?" Sereda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maker's breath, no!" Alistair near-shouted. "I have no claim to the throne and I _don't_ want it."

"Damn, that could have been useful." Sereda chanced another glance at Tabris, who still seemed to be processing what Alistair had told them, and perhaps taking the reveal a little more personally. Though, as an elf who grew up in the Denerim alienage, Sereda could hardly blame her for being wary of nobility.

"At any rate, that's it. That's what I had to tell you. I thought you should know about it." Alistair blurted out, as quickly as he could. He seemed to be looking at Tabris for a reaction now, but Tabris looked closer to sprinting in the opposite direction as fast as she could. Sereda sighed.

"Thank you for letting us know before we walked in blind." Sereda replied, with a tone of voice that was sufficient to make Alistair cringe.

"Really, I'm sorry. It doesn't really matter anyhow so can we just drop it?"

"As you command, my Prince." Tabris said, but her voice was brittle and cutting. Even Sereda had to fight not to flinch.

"Tabris, I -" Alistair began to say, but Tabris turned heel and sped away quicker than Sereda had ever seen her go. Alistair looked at Sereda, hopelessly.

"This is your fault." Sereda said and Alistair groaned. "Give her time." Alistair sighed and made the wise decision to move as far away from Tabris as he could within their party.

Sereda rubbed at her temples. "I need a drink."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh Zevran's finally here! -R


End file.
